MIT News - Special events and guest speakershttps://news.mit.edu/topic/mitspecial-events-rss.xml
MIT News is dedicated to communicating to the media and the public the news and achievements of the students, faculty, staff and the greater MIT community.enTue, 26 Sep 2017 17:10:01 -0400Johan Rockström: Presenting a framework for preserving Earth’s resiliencehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/johan-rockstrom-framework-for-preserving-earth-resilience-0926
Stockholm Resilience Center executive director and Stockholm University professor speaks at the Environmental Solutions Initiative’s People and the Planet lecture series.Tue, 26 Sep 2017 17:10:01 -0400Stephanie M. McPherson | Environmental Solutions Initiativehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/johan-rockstrom-framework-for-preserving-earth-resilience-0926<p>The Earth is entering a new global epoch, and the continuation of humanity as we know it depends on our ability to preserve Earth’s resilience through sustainable actions. That was the take-home message from Johan Rockström, executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Center and professor of environmental science at Stockholm University. He spoke on Tuesday, Sept. 19 for the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative’s first People and the Planet lecture of the academic year.</p>
<p>“It’s the narrative of human survival,” Rockström said. “The ability to navigate the future for … at least 9, potentially even 10 billion co-citizens on Earth [by 2050], all with the same right to good lives.”</p>
<p>Rockström is best known for his <a href="https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art32/" target="_blank">2009 proposal</a> identifying specific limits to Earth’s various systems. He called these limits <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7263/full/461472a.html" target="_blank">planetary boundaries</a> and warned that should we exceed them, we may no longer enjoy the life-sustaining balance between nature and human progress.</p>
<p>The nine boundaries — which include climate change, biodiversity loss, the biogeochemical cycle on Earth, ocean acidification, land use, fresh water availability, ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol levels, and chemical pollution — are meant as scientifically determined sustainability guidelines for governments and corporations.</p>
<p>“It is fundamentally about reconnecting the world economy to the biosphere,” says Rockström. “It’s ... such an incredibly fundamental part of our world development and … we are today putting all of this at risk.”</p>
<p>Socioeconomic systems around the world are based on the Earth’s capacity to absorb the impact of humanity. But the growth of that impact has accelerated dramatically, particularly in the time period since the second World War. Sixty-seven percent of vertebrate wildlife species is projected to be extinct by 2020. Fifty percent of the Australian Great Barrier Reef has already died. Changes to the atmosphere render 2 degrees Celsius of warming to the planet a distinct possibility. As planetary boundaries reach their tipping points, the Earth’s ability to recalibrate in response will diminish.</p>
<p>According to Rockström, if we avoid transgressing planetary boundaries we can maintain a semblance of the biosphere balance we enjoyed during the Holocene epoch of Earth history. The Holocene, which began approximately 11,500 years ago at the end of the last ice age, was a Garden of Eden of sorts. The gentle fluctuations in average global temperature allowed humanity to develop agriculture and take advantage of the Earth’s resources in a more organized manner.</p>
<p>“We were … a small world on a big planet,” Rockström said of our Holocene existence. Many experts say we are now at the dawn of the Anthropocene epoch, marked by the start of nuclear testing in the 1950s. It’s the first epoch in Earth’s 4.5 billion years during which humans are the main drivers of change in natural global systems.</p>
<p>Leaving the Holocene means entering the unknown. “The Holocene is the only equilibrium of the planet that we know for certain can support humanity as we know it,” he said. “We have no evidence to suggest that we could morally and ethically support 9.5 billion co-citizens with a minimum standard of good lives [outside of Holocene conditions].”</p>
<p>Despite current political uncertainties, Rockström is hopeful. He sees a path forward in the Carbon Law, the idea of halving carbon emissions every decade. (He laid out a <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6331/1269" target="_blank">decade-by-decade plan</a> to this end in the March 2017 issue of<em> Science.</em>) This can be done on every scale, he said, from governments to businesses to individuals.</p>
<p>This isn’t an unobtainable utopia. John Sterman, the Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management at the&nbsp;MIT&nbsp;Sloan School of Management observed that, “Johan’s work shows clearly that humanity has already overshot the carrying capacity of the Earth. The good news is that we can change this dire situation: More and more governments, companies and individuals are taking action to create, deploy and scale the technologies and policies we need to build a sustainable world in which all can thrive.”</p>
<p>Many governments (including Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden) and businesses (such as clothing retailer <a href="http://hmfoundation.com/focus-area/planet/" target="_blank">H&amp;M</a> and auto manufacturer Volvo) have already adopted the planetary boundaries framework. The use of renewable energy sources is doubling every 5.4 years; continuing that rate of growth is a key strategy to phase out the use of fossil fuels and achieve full decarbonization of the economy by 2050, according to Rockström.</p>
<p>ESI Director John Fernandez shares this vision and suggests a key role for MIT. “The transformative role of technology — the development of low carbon energy supplies, the electrification of cities, the creation of economically viable and effective methods to recover and reuse key materials — this is MIT’s sandbox,” he said. “Much will come not from doom and gloom, but from the excitement that motivates discovery and invention and the accompanying optimism and responsibility about the real possibility for a deeply sustainable world.”</p>
<p>Rockstöm’s lecture ended on an encouraging note. “We’re starting to see signs of planetary stewardship,” he said. “For the first time ever, humanity has a road map for people and planet. … The light at the end of the tunnel is real.”</p>
<p>ESI’s People and the Planet Lecture Series presents individuals and organizations working to advance understanding and action toward a humane and sustainable future. On Nov. 20, the second fall lecture will feature Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.</p>
Johan Rockstrom speaks at the Environmental Solutions Initiative's first People and the Planet lecture of 2017. Photo: Casey AtkinsSpecial events and guest speakers, Climate change, Climate, Energy, Global Warming, Greenhouse gases, Renewable energy, Environment, Sustainability, Policy, ESI, Earth and atmospheric sciencesMIT Hong Kong Innovation Node finds permanent homehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-hong-kong-innovation-node-finds-permanent-home-0925
The 5,000-square-foot facility includes prototyping equipment, a makerspace, and multipurpose areas.Mon, 25 Sep 2017 00:00:00 -0400Rob Matheson | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-hong-kong-innovation-node-finds-permanent-home-0925<p>The MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node yesterday announced the opening of its permanent, 5,000-square-foot facility, which will serve as a hub for collaborative innovation and entrepreneurship for MIT students, professors, and alumni, as well as others working in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>The opening ceremony at the facility was attended by Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam, as well as alumni and friends of MIT, Innovation Node leaders, students, and startups, and MIT professors who helped launch and guide the Innovation Node’s development.</p>
<p>Located in Kowloon Tong, in an area closely linked to major Hong Kong universities and rapid transportation, the facility includes cutting-edge prototyping equipment, a makerspace, and a variety of multipurpose areas that can be used for lectures, classes, and working spaces.</p>
<p>By enabling new programs and initiatives, the new facility will boost innovation, education, and collaboration between the MIT and Hong Kong communities, including high school and college students, professors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders, says Charlie Sodini, the Clarence J. LeBel Professor in Electrical Engineering, who serves as faculty director for the Innovation Node. “It really is about education — we brought MIT’s entrepreneurship and making curriculum across the Pacific Ocean,” he says.</p>
<p>Conceived by the MIT Innovation Initiative, the Node was first <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2015/innovation-node-hong-kong-1109">announced</a> in November 2015. In June 2016, the Innovation Node <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2016/mit-launch-hong-kong-innovation-node-june-0607">launched</a> its first program, a unique hardware accelerator program designed to educate students in key areas of innovation practice. In January came the launch of its flagship program, the MIT Entrepreneurship and Maker Skills Integrator (MEMSI), a two-week, immersive miniaccelerator that connects MIT students with peers from universities in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>But those programs have been held in rented venues around Hong Kong. Having a permanent space saves time and resources, creates a stronger sense of community, and “opens the door for many more programs” for students, alumni, professors, and even the public, says Brian Yen, executive director of the Innovation Node. “Now that we have our own space, we can start running regular programs, from maker courses to education programs to workshops,” he says.</p>
<p><strong>Prototyping and manufacturing</strong></p>
<p>Inside the Innovation Node is equipment for varying levels of prototyping. For light, rapid prototyping, there are soldering irons, 3-D printers, and equipment for making electronics. For more sophisticated projects, there are laser cutters and machines that make custom circuit boards. The makerspace also has basic construction tools, such as table saws, pipe cutters, and power drills. A wet lab that will support biological engineering tools is in the works.</p>
<p>Positioned above a manufacturing facility, the space also gives students access to more advanced prototyping tools, such as molding equipment and automated machines used for cutting, carving, and milling materials including wood, aluminum, and plastics. “When students do advanced stuff, they can walk downstairs and pay for their time,” Yen says.</p>
<p>Among students who have already benefited from the facility is Aagya Mathur, an MIT Sloan School of Management student who co-founded the startup aam, which began as part of MEMSI in January.</p>
<p>The “femtech” startup — meaning it uses technology to address women’s health issues&nbsp;— is developing a “smart sleeve” for blister packs of contraceptives or other pills, which recognizes individual pills and sends the user a reminder if one hasn’t been taken on schedule. The startup was one of the first to use the new facility over the summer. Now, it has a working prototype. “Because we are a hardware startup, a big piece of the startup is prototyping,” Mathur told <em>MIT News</em>. “The node is really great about having so many machines, such as 3-D printers, mills, vacuum pumps, laser cutters, bandsaws, and soldering stations we were able to use.”</p>
<p>Mathur and her co-founders also took advantage of the Innovation Node’s close proximity to Shenzhen, a major city with advanced manufacturing facilities located a 40-minute train ride away. Over the summer, they visited four manufacturing plants for a look behind the scenes. “It was really eye-opening to see the intricacies of [manufacturing] in person,” Mathur says. “You see how much it costs, how fast things go, and that’s valuable, especially for a hardware startup.”</p>
<p>At the opening event, aam was one of several student startups to present the prototypes they launched at the Innovation Node. Others were: BeThere, a video-recording device on wheels that parents can control remotely to keep an eye on their young children; InterFace, a smart lanyard that enhances interaction among conference participants; Sella, a sensor-embedded office chair that improves sitting posture for employees; Sightecho, one of the first Innovation Node participants, which is developing an augmented-reality mask for divers that displays vital information, including depth and oxygen level; and TNKK, a high school team from Hong Kong making a&nbsp;smart stress ball that provides tactile sensory relief.</p>
<p><strong>Building a collaborative community</strong></p>
<p>A major benefit of the physical space is that it provides continued access to resources for alumni of Hong Kong universities and MIT, says Marina Chan, director of strategic initiatives for the Innovation Node. “In Hong Kong, university students get a lot of resources, but once they graduate, that access is considerably shrunk,” she says. “In a way, we’re an attachment area for them.”</p>
<p>Innovation Node alumni from MIT and Hong Kong universities can drop by to continue projects or mentor budding entrepreneurs. MIT professors can visit during trips to the region to interact with students or deliver lectures. Startups that launched in the Innovation Node also have continued access to the space for further prototyping, company meetings, and, perhaps as importantly, free coffee.&nbsp;“It’s fuel for the mind,” Yen jokes.</p>
<p>In the future, the Innovation Node may also open to allow members of the public to use the makerspace, for example to take classes in app inventing or 3-D printing. It could also serve as an offline meeting spot for edX and <em>MITx</em> users. “We want to curate the best of what MIT has to offer and bring in the ‘mens et manus’ philosophy into the local context,” says Chan, referring to MIT’s “mind and hand” motto.</p>
<p>As space is scarce in Hong Kong, the facility was designed to be multifunctional under tight area constraints. MIT architecture alumnus Dennis Cheung SM ’13, one of the first Innovation Node participants a year ago, designed the space along with his team at UPSOP, a design studio he co-founded. Inspiration came from MIT Department of Architecture Professor George Stiny’s concept of “shape grammar,” which says furniture and other features in spaces should be designed for assembling in different configurations that encourage working and social interactions.</p>
<p>All of the furniture is custom-made and, along with the whiteboards and partitions, can be scooted around on wheels to form different seating, socializing, lecturing, and working arrangements. Apart from optimizing space, the design is meant to inspire creativity. “It doesn’t look boring,” Yen says. “One of the things we wanted is for people to come in and feel the spirit of innovation, and feel creative about how they use the space.”</p>
Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Startups, China, Asia, Global, Innovation Initiative, International initiatives, Manufacturing, maker movement, Alumni/ae, Special events and guest speakersErnest Moniz addresses threats of nuclear weapons and climatehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/ernest-moniz-addresses-threats-nuclear-weapons-and-climate-0922
In MIT’s Compton Lecture, former U.S. energy secretary speaks on global security risks.
Fri, 22 Sep 2017 16:30:00 -0400David L. Chandler | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/ernest-moniz-addresses-threats-nuclear-weapons-and-climate-0922<p>Ernest J. Moniz, who in January left his position as the 13th U.S. Secretary of Energy, spoke on Thursday about his long and ongoing history at MIT, and about his current work focusing on two major threats the world faces: nuclear weapons and global climate change, both of which were central to his role in the last administration.</p>
<p>The talk, held before an overflow crowd in MIT’s Huntington Hall, was part of the Institute’s Compton Lecture series that has continued since 1957. President L. Rafael Reif introduced Moniz, who is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems Emeritus and special advisor to the MIT president, and noted that Moniz’ “record of accomplishment that would stand out in any context.” This record includes his years as chair of the Department of Physics, his role as founding head of the MIT Energy Initiative, and his three tours of duty in Washington. Moniz served twice in the Clinton administration and then for four years in the Obama administration, when he was appointed to run the Department of Energy by a 97 to 0 vote in the Senate.</p>
<p>In that post, Moniz said he had the great opportunity of working for a president who “put the clean energy and climate agenda and the nuclear security agenda very high in their set of priorities.” As a result, he was able to play a major role in the achievement of two significant international agreements: the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear pact, both of which were finalized in 2015.</p>
<p>The two global threats that these agreements addressed are very different in nature, he said: Whereas the use of nuclear weapons would be a rapidly devastating event, climate change “is more like a slow-motion train wreck.” Back in 1992, he said, when he began his first stint at the DoE, “it seemed that we were on a path to managing both problems.” That year saw the signing of the Kyoto agreement on climate change, which, he reminded the audience, is a treaty, ratified by the Senate, calling for stabilization of greenhouse gases at a level that is sustainable. “We are committed to that,” he said. In addition, negotiations led to the beginning of drastic reductions in U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles.</p>
<p>But the road since then has been far from smooth, and now the Paris Agreement on climate change, which Moniz helped to negotiate on behalf of the U.S., is under threat from the new administration and its energy secretary. “Bluntly, especially from the point of view of a policymaker, in my view it is completely laughable to say that the state of the science is not one on which we should take a prudent approach,” he said, noting that the Paris accord, to which 197 nations all agreed, represented such a prudent approach.</p>
<p>Given the U.S. Congress’s insistence, in passing the Kyoto agreement, that there be full international participation, the consensus reached in Paris represented a significant victory, he said: “This path has led us to where we want to go.”</p>
<p>Under the terms of that agreement, Moniz pointed out, the earliest the U.S. could actually withdraw from it, as the Trump administration has pledged, would be Nov. 4 2020, at the very end of its term.</p>
<p>He pointed out that with a single storm, hurricane Irma, a single company, Florida Power and Light, faced an estimated $4 billion in recovery costs. As such storms increase in intensity in a warming world, he said, “it’s a lot cheaper to mitigate than to adapt later. …There’s no going back.”</p>
<p>“We are going to a low-carbon future,” he added. “It’s clearly in the cards. If we don’t pursue the course, we’ll get to the same place, but it will be a rougher road.”</p>
<p>The transition to that worldwide low-carbon energy future, he said, “means there will be a multi-trillion-dollar market. No matter what you think on the climate side, decreasing our research programs doesn’t make sense.”</p>
<p>As for the threat posed by nuclear weapons, “the risk of a misunderstanding leading to the use of a nuclear weapon is probably higher today than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis,” he said.</p>
<p>To try to mitigate that threat, Moniz joined with former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn at a nonprofit organization called the Nuclear Threat Initiative, where Moniz is now the CEO. The organization advocates for negotiations, modeled on some nuclear weapons reduction programs that worked in the 1980s, to address the threats of weapons of mass destruction.</p>
<p>One significant accomplishment toward that end, he said, was the nuclear pact that he, along with then-Secretary of State John Kerry, negotiated with Iran. The highly technical agreement, which included meticulously detailed plans for verification measures, was made possible in part by the fact that of the four-person negotiating team – Kerry, Moniz, and their Iranian counterparts – three had PhDs from American universities (two of them from MIT), and all of them were able to negotiate in English without needing translators.</p>
<p>That agreement, he said, with its strong verification, “buys us a decade or 15 years of time, which could be used wisely” to negotiate further. If, instead, this administration fails to certify Iran’s compliance, “even though the IAEA says they are doing everything they are supposed to do, our European friends [who are also party to the agreement] are going to be not happy. That’s one more opportunity to put a wedge between us and our allies.”</p>
<p>As for North Korea, he said, an approach is needed that looks more broadly at the situation rather than just focusing on the nuclear weapons. “We have not had a serious dialog with China; we are not addressing all the issues that China is concerned with,” he said.</p>
<p>“I think that we do need to restart diplomacy. And that does not consist of choosing the most colorful words you can think of. We need to get a framework together that addresses all of our security concerns. … We have got to get back into the business of diplomacy, and then we can get to some progress.”</p>
Professor Ernest Moniz speaks at the 2017 Karl Taylor Compton Lecture, titled “Reducing Global Threats: Climate Change and Nuclear Security.”
Photo: Jake BelcherCompton lecture, Special events and guest speakers, President L. Rafael Reif, Faculty, Energy, Climate change, Nuclear security and policy, Government, Politics, Policy, Technology and societyKerry Emanuel: This year’s hurricanes are a taste of the futurehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/kerry-emanuel-hurricanes-are-taste-future-0921
Climate scientist describes physics behind expected increase in storm strength due to climate change.Thu, 21 Sep 2017 16:30:00 -0400David L. Chandler | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/kerry-emanuel-hurricanes-are-taste-future-0921<p>In a detailed talk about the history and the underlying physics of hurricanes and tropical cyclones, MIT Professor Kerry Emanuel yesterday explained why climate change will cause such storms to become much stronger and reach peak intensity further north, heightening their potential impacts on human lives in coming years.</p>
<p>“Climate change, if unimpeded, will greatly increase the probability of extreme events,” such as the three record-breaking hurricanes of recent weeks, he said.</p>
<p>In Houston, Hurricane Harvey, which devastated parts of the Texas coastline and produced more total rainfall than any U.S. hurricane on record, would have been considered a one-in-2,000-years event during the 20th century, according to the best available reconstructions of the past record of such storms, Emanuel said. But in the 21st century, that probability could drop to one in 100 years, given the likely trajectory of climate change conditions. Hurricane Irma, with its record-breaking duration as a Category 5 storm, will go from being a one-in-800-years event in the area of the Caribbean that suffered a direct hit, to a one-in-80-years event by the end of this century, he said.</p>
<p>Emanuel, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science and co-director of the Lorenz Center at MIT, has long been considered one of the leading researchers on tropical storms including hurricanes and cyclones (which is the name for such storms in the Pacific Ocean), the physical mechanisms that generate them, and the reconstruction of their past frequency and intensity. Ron Prinn, the TEPCO Professor of Atmospheric Science and director of the Center for Global Change Science, said in introducing Emanuel’s talk, “I can’t think of a better person in the world to address this issue of hurricanes,” including what he called the “2017 hurricane train” with its succession of huge storms.</p>
<p>In fact, although his talk had been titled “What Do Hurricanes Harvey and Irma Portend?” Emanuel pointed out that now there was “a tragic irony in presenting this lecture just hours after another hurricane [Maria] has devastated Puerto Rico.” At such a time, he said, “it is natural to ask if these are just natural events.” Referring to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s recent comments that it was inappropriate to talk about climate change in relation to hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Emanuel wondered aloud “if after 9/11 he would have said that now is not a good time to talk about terrorism?”</p>
<p>Already, over the last four decades, he said, hurricanes and cyclones globally have caused an average of $700 billion in damages annually since 1971. Meanwhile, thanks to population growth and the development of oceanfront property, “the global population exposed to hurricanes has tripled since 1970,” he said.</p>
<p>While hurricanes, like earthquakes and volcanoes, “are part of nature,” Emanuel said, “what we’re talking about are unnatural disasters — disasters we cause by building structures” in places that are inherently vulnerable to such devastating forces.</p>
<p>Because of policies, including the current system of federally provided flood insurance that gives private insurers little motivation to study countermeasures, he said, “we’re going to be having Harveys, Irmas, and Marias as far as the eye can see.”</p>
<p>While much of the news coverage of hurricanes focuses on the powerful winds, which have indeed been a major cause of damage and loss of life in the islands pummeled by Irma and Maria, Emanuel said that overall it is water, not wind, that causes the vast majority of damage from such storms, though most people underestimate the severity of the water impact. To illustrate the point, he showed a short, dramatic video of a hurricane-produced storm surge striking a building. “It is hydrodynamically the same thing as a tsunami,” he explained, as the clip showed water rushing steadily in and quickly engulfing an entire house.</p>
<p>“I wish everyone who lives in zones subject to these storms could see films like this,” he said, adding that the scene depicted was clearly not survivable. “Water is the big killer.”</p>
<p>Part of the difficulty in providing strong, clear documentation of the increasing intensity of hurricanes is the sparsity of the historical records. “Prior to 1943, everything we know about hurricanes on the planet comes from anecdotal accounts,” he said, especially those provided by ships’ logs and news accounts in coastal cities. Still, Emanuel and others have devised a variety of ingenious ways of deducing the hurricane record over much longer periods, using techniques such as taking cores from coastal lagoons to reveal periods when storm surges drove quantities of beach sand far inland, and analyzing the annual rates of shipwrecks over a period of centuries.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the use of new methods, including a technique for deriving wind speed information from the radio signals from GPS navigational satellites, are starting to provide an unprecedented degree of detail of the internal dynamics of these storms, which should enable researchers to continue to refine their models and may ultimately allow for more accurate forecasting of hurricanes. While projecting of hurricane tracks has already improved greatly, he said, the ability to predict the strength of coming storms is not yet as good.</p>
<p>Emanuel said his calculations of the physics behind the formation and growth of hurricanes indicate that the storms’ strength will continue to increase as the climate warms, but that there are inherent limits to that growth. At some point the maximum size of such storms will begin to level off, he said.</p>
<p>But those limits are still far off. For the near term, Emanuel said that U.S. rainfall events as intense as that produced by hurricane Harvey, which had about a 1 percent annual likelihood in the 1990s, has already increased in likelihood to about 6 percent annually, and by 2090 could be about 18 percent.</p>
Kerry Emanuel, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science and co-director of the Lorenz Center at MITPhoto: Helen HillSpecial events and guest speakers, Faculty, Climate change, Energy, Policy, Politics, Sustainability, Research, EAPS, Government, School of Science, Global Warming, Earth and atmospheric sciencesAstronaut Kate Rubins returns to the Whitehead Institute to describe her experiences in low-Earth orbithttps://news.mit.edu/2017/astronaut-kate-rubins-returns-to-whitehead-institute-to-describe-space-experiences-0920
Former Whitehead Fellow and recent International Space Station resident gives public talk and engages with the next generation of scientists and engineers.Wed, 20 Sep 2017 15:35:04 -0400Nicole Giese | Whitehead Institutehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/astronaut-kate-rubins-returns-to-whitehead-institute-to-describe-space-experiences-0920<p>The Whitehead Institute at MIT welcomed NASA astronaut and former Whitehead Fellow Kathleen “Kate” Rubins on Sept. 12.</p>
<p>Rubins' visit began in the afternoon, when Whitehead Institute Director David Page interviewed her for Whitehead’s podcast, "Audiohelicase." After the interview, Rubins spoke with a select group of Whitehead postdocs and graduate students.</p>
<p>Later, she enthralled local students as she recounted her four-month 2016 trip to the International Space Station (ISS), her biomedical research in space, and her journey from scientist to astronaut. The audience of students, teachers, and parents from Cambridge and surrounding communities watched with rapt attention as Rubins narrated a video showing her preparations for and launch into space, her experiments — including the first DNA sequencing in space — her fiery return to Earth in a plasma-surrounded capsule, and her jarring landing on the Kazakh Steppe, in Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>Following the video, Rubins answered many probing questions from the attendees, including whether she hopes to go back into space. With a laugh, she answered that she would love to visit the space station again, but as she had just returned, she was most likely at the bottom of NASA’s list right now.</p>
<p>That evening, Rubins headlined Whitehead Connects, an initiative of the Whitehead Institute at MIT that brings notable biology and biotech leaders to campus for engaging public presentations. The event began in a packed Whitehead Auditorium with remarks and an introduction by Maria Zuber, MIT vice president for research, the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. In her role as vice president for research, Zuber oversees more than a dozen of MIT’s research institutes and laboratories, as well as MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, and is also responsible for research compliance, intellectual property, and projects with the federal government. In addition, Zuber has been chair of the National Science Board since 2016.</p>
<p>Zuber spoke about the current landscape of federal funding for science and the criticality of federal funds for keeping scientific discovery moving forward. She described how her own experiences with over half a dozen NASA planetary missions underscored for her how much there is yet to be discovered, and how work like Rubins’ — at the intersection of space exploration and the life sciences — is an endeavor of utmost importance. Zuber then welcomed Rubins back to the Institute.</p>
<p>Before a capacity crowd, Rubins&nbsp;detailed her experience as a NASA astronaut and her path from Whitehead to NASA. As a&nbsp;Whitehead Fellow&nbsp;from 2007 to 2009,&nbsp;Rubins and her&nbsp;lab were focused on understanding the viruses causing Ebola and Marburg virus diseases, as well as Lassa fever. Her work also included special projects with the U.S. Army that aimed to develop therapies for Ebola and Lassa fever.</p>
<p>Rubins was selected as one of 14 NASA astronaut candidates in 2009, and after extensive training was assigned to Expeditions 48 and 49 onboard the International Space Station. Last year, Rubins spent nearly four months aboard the ISS, from July to October. Among her many accomplishments, she logged over 12 hours of spacewalk time and became the first person to sequence DNA in space.</p>
<p>Rubins shared with the Whitehead Connects audience a video detailing her mission, including the trials of living and working in microgravity, some of the more than 275 scientific experiments done by the crew, as well as her work growing heart cells in a dish, doing quantitative, real-time PCR, and microbiome experiments.</p>
<p>The video was followed by an interactive question-and-answer period moderated by Richard Young, Whitehead member and professor of biology at MIT. The evening concluded with a reception welcoming Rubins back to Whitehead and honoring her extraordinary accomplishments.</p>
<p>For more information about Whitehead Connects and other upcoming events at the Whitehead Institute, please visit <a href="http://wi.mit.edu" target="_blank">wi.mit.edu</a>.</p>
NASA astronaut and former Whitehead Fellow Kathleen "Kate" Rubins returned to MIT for a public talk and engagement with local students. Photo: Allegra BovermanSpace, astronomy and planetary science, NASA, Special events and guest speakers, Whitehead Institute, Biology, School of ScienceMIT Women in Chemistry hosts second annual Scientist for a Day camphttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-women-in-chemistry-hosts-scientist-for-a-day-camp-0913
Middle school girls from the Cambridge area spend an afternoon on campus, participating in hands-on scientific experiments.Wed, 13 Sep 2017 17:40:01 -0400Danielle Randall | Department of Chemistryhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-women-in-chemistry-hosts-scientist-for-a-day-camp-0913<p>On Saturday, Aug. 19, the <a href="http://mit.edu/wic/" target="_blank">MIT&nbsp;Women in Chemistry</a> (WIC) held their second annual Scientist for a Day camp for local middle school girls.</p>
<p>The well-attended event provided participants with a sampling of hands-on science activities led by female graduate students in MIT's Department of Chemistry. Over the course of the three-and-a-half hour experience, the girls experimented with polymers used in every-day materials, extracted DNA from strawberries and fluorescent molecules from spinach, simulated the greenhouse effect and its origin in our environment, made ice cream using liquid nitrogen, and more. "It was quite clear that all had a great time," said department head and Robert R. Taylor Professor Timothy F. Jamison. "I would be very surprised if [the WIC volunteers] have not inspired many or all of these girls to start or to continue on their paths in science."</p>
<p>The afternoon of scientific exploration proved to be rewarding not just for the middle-school girls, but also for the women who organized the event. "I really liked being reminded of what I must have been like before I knew as much about science as I do now," said graduate student and WIC outreach chair Krysta Dummit. "[I also] liked thinking about all the science they had yet to discover."</p>
<p>Graduate student voluteer Amanda Stubbs regards the event as an opportunity to pay it forward, remembering a defining moment in her own middle school experience that ultimately led her to where she is today. "When I was in middle school I went to a camp that was directed at girls to encourage them to go into STEM fields by talking about different possible careers; this experience was a helpful influence when I was eventually selecting my major as an undergraduate," Stubbs recalled. "I want to do everything I can to encourage more women to pursue chemistry; seeing them achieve the tasks we laid out for them and being excited about what they had accomplished was very rewarding."</p>
<p>The volunteers succeeded in orchestrating a wonderful event that truly got its participants excited about chemistry by putting the experiments right into their hands. "My favorite moment was watching the girls thoroughly smash a bunch of strawberries," said Dummit. "They were so enthusiastic about it. I think it's really important to let kids play with science, rather than just reading about it."</p>
<p>Liquid nitrogen ice cream also proved to be a hit among the crowd. "My favorite moment was making liquid nitrogen ice cream with the girls," said Stubbs. "They were excited and it brought together two of my favorite things: science and ice cream!"</p>
<p>By orchestrating this event and others like it, MIT Women in Chemistry continue to take their role as influencers of the next generation of female STEM students with a significant amount of gravitas. This fulfilling, educational, and, most importantly, fun experience succeded in raising awareness as to just how magnificent the pursuit of chemistry can be.&nbsp;</p>
MIT Women in Chemistry members led the second annual Scientist for a Day camp at MIT. Top row (l-r): Amanda Stubbs, Allena Goren, Krysta Dummit, Carly Schissel, Lexie McIsaac, and Jessica Lamb. Second row (l-r): Jessica Carr, Sophie Bertram, Nicole Moody, Kristin Zuromski, Michelle MacLeod, and Anna PonomarenkoSpecial events and guest speakers, STEM education, K-12 education, Diversity and inclusion, Chemistry, Women in STEM, School of ScienceYoung startups go full throttlehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/delta-v-demo-day-0912
At MIT delta v Demo Day, student entrepreneurs present novel ideas that have achieved commercial milestones.Tue, 12 Sep 2017 15:00:00 -0400Rob Matheson | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/delta-v-demo-day-0912<p>The startups that presented at the MIT delta v accelerator’s Demo Day this weekend proved ideas can get off the ground quickly if given the right resources. The early-stage startups all demonstrated innovative products and services that have already attracted customers, gone through pilot testing, or reached another commercial milestone.</p>
<p>From June to August each year, MIT delta v, hosted in the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, provides a cohort of startups with the wherewithal to launch: office and lab space for prototyping, mentorship from veteran entrepreneurs, $20,000 in funding, and $2,000 in living expenses.</p>
<p>Demo Day is delta v’s capstone event, where the entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to the MIT community, investors, and business leaders. Of the <a href="http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/accelerator/2017-teams/">21 startups</a> (the biggest cohort yet) that enrolled this summer, 19 startups pitched their innovative business plans to a capacity crowd gathered in Kresge Auditorium.</p>
<p>The diverse range of ideas included robots that analyze sewerage to track opioid consumption in populations, portable weight-lifting equipment that adjusts resistance in real time, a “Netflix” service for autonomous-vehicle data, augmented reality for recording and sharing knowledge of frontline workers in hospitals and care facilities, an online market that helps indigenous people digitize and sell their art, a battery for soldiers that recharges with fuel, cooking classes that donate meals to the needy, and advanced filtration systems that better remove heavy metals from drinking water.</p>
<p>During their presentations, all the startups mentioned some recent commercial milestones, drawing enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. These milestones include partnerships and agreements with big-name companies, pilot programs, working prototypes or early product iterations, launched websites or apps, earned revenue, and — perhaps most importantly — customers.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Indeed, Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center, said the accelerator’s focus this year was on “customer traction.”</p>
<p>“The concept is great, but did the customer buy it?” Aulet said in his opening remarks. “Today you’re going to see this is not just a project for these [startups] anymore. They have validated that … their customers will pay for it. That is the single necessary and sufficient condition for a business: to have a paying customer.”</p>
<p>This year also saw the launch of a pilot program, the MIT NYC Summer Startup Studio, in New York City, where seven additional startups were offered the same perks that delta v provides. These startups will present at two additional Demo Days, in New York City on Sept. 14 and in Silicon Valley on Sept. 25. Demo Day was a kickoff event for MIT’s entrepreneurship festival, called t=0, which hosts a variety of events on campus Sept. 9-15.</p>
<p><strong>Pilots and paying customers</strong></p>
<p>Launched in 2012, MIT’s summer accelerator has helped launch 44 startups, 30 of which are now thriving companies, including <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/liquiglide-condiments-0630">LiquiGlide</a>, <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/wecyclers-cargo-bike-recycling-nigeria-0305">Wecyclers</a>, <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/accion-systems-thruster-for-small-satellites-0311">Accion Systems</a>, <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2016/startup-evervest-calculating-financial-risks-renewable-energy-0915">EverVest</a>, and <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/data-analytics-online-shopping-0915">Infinite Analytics</a>. Combined, these companies have raised tens of millions of dollars and created hundreds of jobs.</p>
<p>Among this year’s thriving startups was Octant, which is building machine-learning algorithms that curate scores of data for autonomous vehicles. Octant sends drivers to cruise around cities and collect data, through onboard cameras and sensors, of hundreds of thousands of driving scenarios. Companies can go through Octant to find specific scenarios&nbsp;that help train their autonomous vehicles.</p>
<p>In that way, Octant is like a “Netflix” for autonomous vehicles, co-founder Ryan Pijai, a graduate student in the Sloan School of Management, told <em>MIT News</em>. “Instead of watching videos, engineers subscribe to scenarios and we provide video clips and sensor data on those scenarios,” he said. “It’s almost like the car is the person and is learning while it’s watching the data.”</p>
<p>Octant launched just a few months ago. While participating in delta v, the startup refined its software, contracted more than 100 drivers, deployed cars, partnered with a Fortune 50 company, and earned more than $100,000 in revenue from customers.</p>
<p>That’s just one example. Roots Studio, which digitizes and markets culturally iconic artwork of indigenous people who struggle to find customers in the isolated areas where they live, signed 1,200 artists in India, Indonesia, and Panama, and generated $50,000 in revenue.</p>
<p>Early in the summer, <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/infinite-cooling-wins-cleantech-university-prize-0808">Infinite Cooling</a>, which captures vapor from water used at power plants and reintroduces it into the cooling cycle, just launched its first industrial-scale pilot at the MIT cogeneration plant, a natural gas turbine. The startup has also earned $300,000 for ongoing pilot testing.</p>
<p>Biobot Analytics, a startup that’s gained extensive media attention recently, is building robots that dip into sewerage to collect samples that are analyzed in the lab to look for viruses, chemicals, and bacteria. The data appear on a dashboard so the startup can track and visualize concentration levels and efficacy of treatments. Currently, the startup is tackling a drug crisis in Massachusetts and across the nation.</p>
<p>“We’re setting off to measure the concentration of various opioids in sewerage, so we can proactively estimate consumption at the neighborhood level,” said co-founder Newsha Ghaeli, an MIT research fellow. “We’re moving from this reactive way of counting how many people die, to proactively measuring consumption while people are still alive.”</p>
<p><br />
The startup has now secured a 12-week pilot program with a Northeastern city, deployed a prototype in Cambridge, and has five other partner cities lined up.</p>
<p><strong>Rapid prototyping and sage advice</strong></p>
<p>The event’s keynote speaker was delta v alumna Shireen Yates, co-founder of <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2016/portable-sensor-gluten-free-0706">Nima</a>, which is developing a portable gluten detector. In 2013, Yates and her co-founder enrolled in delta v (then called Global Founders’ Skills Accelerator) “and the next three months really changed the trajectory of both our lives for the next four years,” she said. “The delta v accelerator helped catapult us in the most efficient way to where we are now.”</p>
<p>In the accelerator, the startup quickly built prototypes, took those to tech conferences, conducted market research, and even made a makeshift restaurant in the Martin Trust Center to gather customer feedback. “This was all done … to say, ‘Is this an idea I want to commit my life to?’ Delta v helped us answer that question,” she said, adding, “Since then, we’ve been going nonstop.”</p>
<p>That sentiment was echoed by this year’s cohort. For Octant, a major perk of delta v was having a mock board of directors — small groups of industry veterans — that offered advice to all the startups. “The program pushes you to test everything you’re doing,” Pijai said. “We’re put into a lot of scenarios in a short period of time [to simulate] what it’s like to fully run a startup.”</p>
<p>For hardware startups such as W8X, rapid iteration was key to their progress. The startup is developing portable weight-training equipment that adjusts resistance in real-time. Their first product is a mat with a curling bar tethered to a middle compartment with an electric motor. Through an app, the motor can be preset to change resistance during different stages of reps, such as when lifting versus lowering the bar, which optimizes training.</p>
<p>Co-founder Jody Fu ’17 and two others launched W8X (pronounced “weight X”) in January and, through delta v, went through many product iterations. Now the W8X has a working prototype and interested customers, which has instilled the team with a new level of confidence, Fu told <em>MIT News</em>.</p>
<p>“We built six prototypes, we have six interns, and we talked to 40 strength coaches in the nation. We’ve really narrowed down what our product is, and now were confident we have something that’s desirable and what coaches are craving to have in their gyms,” Fu said. “It was really rapid fire this summer.”</p>
Every summer, the MIT delta v accelerator provides a cohort of student startups with the wherewithal to launch, including office and lab space, mentorship, and funding. At the 2017 Demo Day event on Sept. 9, the entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to the MIT community, investors, and business leaders.Photo: Justin KnightInnovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Startups, Students, Special events and guest speakers, Industry, Business and managementImagination off the chartshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/documentary-jacob-collier-0906
New documentary chronicles Jacob Collier&#039;s collaborations at MIT.Wed, 06 Sep 2017 12:30:00 -0400School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Scienceshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/documentary-jacob-collier-0906<p>“Being at MIT consistently reminds me of how wonderful it is when people think beyond the surface level — up and down to other realms of things,” Jacob Collier said from the Kresge Auditorium stage on December 10, 2016.</p>
<p>The occasion was a three-hour concert and culmination of the multi-Grammy-winning musician’s residency with the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble. It was produced by the MIT Center for Art, Science, and Technology (CAST) and with MIT Music and Theater Arts. The project began in the early fall of 2016 and grew to include a feature-length documentary.</p>
<p>“It was a kind of ‘perfect storm’ of circumstances and creative collaborations,” says Dr. Frederick Harris, MIT’s Director of Wind and Jazz Ensembles. “What happens when an extremely gifted musician connects with a brilliant music technology graduate student? They begin to build a unique instrument never before heard and tour the world with an innovative performance platform. And what happens when they collaborate with MIT musicians?”</p>
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<p><strong>A second home at MIT</strong></p>
<p>Ben Bloomberg, a PhD student in the MIT Media Lab, met Collier in 2015. The two became fast friends and artistic collaborators. In addition to building Collier’s Vocal Harmoniser at MIT and creating his one-man-band performance vehicle, Bloomberg served as the balance engineer for "In My Room," Collier’s Grammy-winning 2016 debut recording.</p>
<p>Over the course of their collaboration, Collier’s appreciation for the Institute grew. “MIT feels like a second home to me now,” he says.</p>
<p>When Harris learned of their relationship, he began to craft a residency project that would allow MIT music students to engage directly with Collier and Bloomberg. To this end, Harris invited Jamshied Sharifi '83, an acclaimed composer-arranger-producer, to arrange some of Collier’s original music for jazz ensemble, choir, and full orchestra.</p>
<p>The fruits of that labor were on display at the December concert, which featured the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble with an orchestra and chorus of musicians from MIT, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, Boston Arts Academy, and the University of New Hampshire.</p>
<p>“It was an historic evening at MIT,” said Sharifi about the performance. “I’ve heard or have been a part of concerts in Kresge for 37 years, and that night tops them all.”</p>
<p><strong>The power of art</strong></p>
<p>The story of the collaboration is told by director/editor Jean Dunoyer ’87 in a new documentary film, "Imagination Off the Charts: Jacob Collier Comes to MIT." The film chronicles Collier's artistic collaboration with MIT featuring rehearsals, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the artists, and portions of the live concert performance. It shares insights into Collier’s music, his work with MIT students, and a system — developed by Bloomberg, Peter Torpey, and Brian Mayton — that offers real-time improvisational direction to musicians through the use of phones.</p>
<p>“While making this film,” says Dunoyer, an editor-producer for MIT Video Productions, “I witnessed many immensely gifted people with a range of artistic skill sets bring enormous enthusiasm to this ambitious project. It was a testament to the power of art for bringing people together toward a positive and uplifting outcome.”</p>
<p>“Jacob is one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of people who changes the way you look at things,” says Jeff Moran, a postdoc associate in MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and a bassist featured in the documentary film.</p>
<p>Produced by MIT Video Productions, the film was made possible due to the generous support of Jane and Neil Pappalardo '64.</p>
“I’ve heard or have been a part of concerts in Kresge for 37 years," said composer Jamshied Sharifi '83, "and that night tops them all.”Photo: L. Barry HetheringtonSHASS, Music, Music technology, Theater, Arts, MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST), Special events and guest speakers, CollaborationExperiencing the Great American Solar Eclipsehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/experiencing-great-american-solar-eclipse-mit-0829
Thousands attend MIT solar eclipse-watching parties on campus, at the MIT Wallace Observatory, and in Rexburg, Idaho. Tue, 29 Aug 2017 14:45:01 -0400Nancy Kotary | Haystack Observatoryhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/experiencing-great-american-solar-eclipse-mit-0829<p>They came in droves to witness the moon blocking the sun.</p>
<p>On Aug. 21 at MIT's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts; at the MIT Wallace Observatory; and in eastern Idaho, members of the MIT community, and the public at large, gathered to watch what was hailed by many as the Great American Solar Eclipse — a solar eclipse that could be seeen across North America.</p>
<p>The MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) hosted the main event on campus, at the Kresge Oval. Armed with solar glasses and viewing devices ranging from a pair of specially filtered telescopes to paper plates, colanders, and pinhole cameras, organizers enthusiastically greeted several thousand attendees who showed up to view the partial eclipse. Megan Jordan, EAPS academic administrator, said that the 300 pairs of solar glasses on hand were shared by attendees, whose presence far exceeded the expected turnout. The event, organized by senior lecturer Amanda Bosh and others in EAPS, was well staffed with volunteers, postdocs, and students, as well as individuals in the <a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/observe" target="_blank">observe@MIT</a> stargazing group.</p>
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<p>In Westford, Massachusetts, the MIT Wallace Astrophysical Observatory and MIT Haystack Observatory co-hosted another lively eclipse party for nearly 200 people on the Wallace grounds — the largest public event ever at the observatory. Despite months of hype and excitement, the partial eclipse did not disappoint here, either. Families gathered on the lawn from as far away as Virgina to see what looked like a bite taken out of the sun. Cool temperatures and a dimmed sky during the height of the obscurement were clearly noticable, even though the moon covered just over 60 percent of the sun's surface.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Several families built and transported carboard viewers larger than the children using them to safely watch the sun. MIT Wallace site manager Tim Brothers set up a telescope filtered for safe viewing, and the line of people waiting to look through it at the eclipse stretched through the grounds during the entire eclipse party. Brothers also set up a live feed from another telescope, this one equipped with an H-alpha filter that narrows the visible spectrum to view details in the sun's chromosphere layer, as well as a live data feed from the ionospheric radar experiment at MIT Haystack next door.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Further afield, some 50 MIT alumni and family members <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/qa-richard-binzel-tips-for-observing-solar-eclipse-0815" target="_self">traveled together with EAPS Professor Rick Binzel</a> to Rexburg, Idaho, to experience the solar eclipse within the region of totality — a narrow band across the U.S. where the moon completely blocked out the sun. The location was chosen based on extensive research by Binzel to determine a spot most likely to have favorable weather and clear skies. The MIT group got up early to avoid expected traffic and spent the eclipse on Brigham Young University's Idaho campus. The group, carrying MIT flags and a variety of safe viewing devices, enjoyed the spectacle after hearing expert lectures from Binzel on the science of the eclipse.</p>
<p>Preparations are already underway for the next total solar eclipse across the United States in 2024, for which the path of totality will stretch from Texas to Maine.</p>
Several thousand people gathered at MIT to watch the partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21. Photo: Maia Weinstock/MITSpecial events and guest speakers, Community, EAPS, Alumni/ae, Space, astronomy and planetary science, Haystack Observatory, School of SciencePresident Reif to Class of 2021: “We are very lucky to have you!”https://news.mit.edu/2017/freshman-convocation-class-2021-0828
“MIT is a magnificent machine for inventing the future,” Reif tells incoming freshmen.Mon, 28 Aug 2017 16:30:00 -0400David L. Chandler | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/freshman-convocation-class-2021-0828<p>MIT greeted the incoming Class of 2021 with its annual Convocation in front of Kresge Auditorium, treating them and their parents to personal stories of what it was like to first arrive at MIT, as told by President L. Rafael Reif and three highly accomplished faculty members.</p>
<p>Reif described his own fears when he arrived at this campus, having grown up in Venezuela, not knowing anyone in the area. He worried, among other things, about whether he was good enough to succeed here, whether his English was good enough, and what it would be like to experience snow for the first time. But those fears were quickly erased: “Very soon, MIT became my academic home,” he said, “and this community became my extended family. I hope that you will come to feel that way, too.”</p>
<p>Those initial fears vanished, he said, when “I found that what mattered at MIT was not where you come from or who you know, but what you contribute: good ideas, new perspectives, hard work, and creativity.” MIT, he said, “was the first place where I could stop feeling self-conscious, particularly about what interested me.”</p>
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<p>Those initial worries were echoed by three faculty members who described their own experiences upon arriving here. Kristala Prather, the Arthur D. Little Professor of Chemical Engineering, who earned her bachelor’s degree at MIT, recalled thinking when she arrived on campus and heard of the amazing accomplishments of her fellow students, “how the heck did they let me in?” And, she added, she felt the same way 14 years later when she received her appointment to the MIT faculty.</p>
<p>To those in the incoming class who might feel the same way, she said, “I want to be sure you know, you are here on purpose. … You are ready to take on this place!”</p>
<p>“MIT is a unique crucible, where you will be faced with challenges you didn’t quite expect, at an important time of your life,” she said. “My advice here is quite simple: Embrace failure! If you haven’t already, you’ll soon realize that failures frequently, and I might say usually, allow you to learn far more than your successes.” Failure, she said, “lets you know that your knowledge lacked depth, or your understanding was incomplete, or maybe your expectations were a little unrealistic. Filling in those gaps adds to your knowledge base, and how you go about recovering from those failures will teach you lifelong lessons.”</p>
<p>Prather added that students should seek experiences outside their academic specialties. “You have to have balance, something that allows you to get away from the rigors of academics and enjoy life. … So my advice to you is to have fun, explore, try new things, go new places, meet new people, hang out with friends, just have fun … but not too much fun.”</p>
<p>Martin Culpepper, a professor of mechanical engineering and MIT’s “Maker Czar,” regaled the students with his own experiences of early failure and having fun, such as the time he took apart his dad’s carburetor and found that there were quite a few parts left over when he put it back together and it didn’t work, or when he flooded the basement of his home while trying to fix the washing machine. He learned important lessons from that, he said, such as “what an insurance deductible is, compared to my allowance.”</p>
<p>But these experiences, he explained, really did end up paving his path to MIT. And once he got here, “every day here as a student I got challenged, every day I got to see amazing things that people were doing in their research, and every day here as a student I got to work with my mind and my hands.”</p>
<p>Culpepper added that “over the course of the next few years, you’re going to have tough days.” He gave the example from his first semester, when a professor found out he couldn’t afford to go home for Thanksgiving, and invited him to spend it with his own family. He ended up having a wonderful experience there, having a great meal, driving bulldozers, and talking at length about differential equations. It was a day that could have been really sad for him, he said, but ended up being a fantastic experience.</p>
<p>Sara Seager, the Class of ’41 Professor, a professor of planetary science and of physics, and a leading expert on planets outside the solar system, talked about seeing the total solar eclipse a week ago. She described how that event related to the kind of research she has been carrying out for many years, to detect planets around other stars by observing the dimming of light when a planet passes in from of its star — a kind of miniature eclipse. Seager is a leader of the team that designed TESS, a new NASA mission that will soon observe many nearby stars to watch for such eclipses — called transits — in order to learn much more about the characteristics of those distant planets.</p>
<p>She described how she posed a challenge to a class in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics to develop a system to control the accurancy of pointing for tiny satellites called cubesats so that they could be steady enough to carry out such observations. The students rose to the challenge, and after some further development, this system was launched two weeks ago by NASA to the International Space Station, where it will soon be deployed into space. That whole experience, she said, “captured the MIT spirit: This bold idea that no matter how crazy, if it’s backed up by physics, it’s worth developing.” Where others might dismiss an idea as crazy, at MIT the attitude is “‘Yes, let’s give it a try,’” she said.</p>
<p>As Reif summarized to the incoming freshman class, “Every one of you has what it takes to succeed here. … And I hope you will join us in facing the challenge of building a better MIT, and building a better world. Humanity is facing no shortage of serious challenges: climate, energy, disease, poverty. And MIT is a magnificent human machine for inventing the future. But MIT invents the future thanks to its students.”</p>
<p>Reif concluded by thanking the incoming students for the choice they made: “We are very lucky to have you. All of you had other options, and I am delighted and grateful that you chose MIT. You will receive a great education here, and all of us together will make a better world.”</p>
“I found that what mattered at MIT was not where you come from or who you know, but what you contribute: Good ideas, new perspectives, hard work, and creativity,” said MIT President L. Rafael Reif at the 2017 Convocation. MIT, he said, “was the first place where I could stop feeling self-conscious, particularly about what interested me.” Photo: Jake BelcherStudents, Undergraduate, Faculty, Staff, Administration, Special events and guest speakers, CommunityInspiring the next generation of engineers https://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-cee-kids-camp-inspires-next-generation-civil-and-environmental-engineers-0828
The second annual Civil and Environmental Engineering Kids Camp exposes youth to accessible STEM activities.Mon, 28 Aug 2017 14:45:01 -0400Carolyn Schmitt | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineeringhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-cee-kids-camp-inspires-next-generation-civil-and-environmental-engineers-0828<p>The halls of MIT were abuzz with 30 children and teenagers eager to be civil and environmental engineers for a day.</p>
<p>All relatives, friends or neighbors of members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), the young additions to the community were on campus for the second annual CEE Kids Camp, a day filled with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities that showcased research topics throughout the department.</p>
<p>“We started CEE Kids Camp last year to show friends and relatives of our community what it means to work in CEE and to inspire the next generation of STEM students,” said&nbsp;Markus Buehler, head of CEE and the McAfee Professor of Engineering. “All of the children were excited to attend the event and to share what they created throughout the day. The camp was a unique opportunity to sample the diverse research areas in CEE for young children to show them what it means to be a civil and environmental engineer.”</p>
<p>The one-day camp was held on Aug. 15, beginning&nbsp;with an orientation breakfast, where the group received schedules, camp shirts, bags,&nbsp;and CEE&nbsp;water bottles. The kids also learned about the environmental impact of disposable water bottles and the importance of using reusable ones —&nbsp;information that became trivia question material&nbsp;later&nbsp;in the day.</p>
<p>Led by volunteers from across the department, the camp consisted of seven stations featuring kid-friendly activities that exposed participants to a number of research areas, including fluid mechanics, concrete sustainability, earthquake-resistant structures, and bioinspired materials.</p>
<p>“All of the activities and presentations were created with kids of all ages in mind; you could tell that a lot of thought went into making sure that everything was at a level everyone could understand,” said&nbsp;Kathy Briana, the lead organizer of the camp and a CEE staff member. “It was a busy day hosting so many kids and teenagers, but it was a lot of fun.” &nbsp;</p>
<p>The participants were broken into smaller groups and took turns rotating between stations, which were hosted by faculty members, lecturers, students, and department affiliates. The tasks had varying levels of difficulty, but volunteers were on hand to guide each child through the activities.</p>
<p>Assistant Professor Tal Cohen, who specializes in nonlinear solid mechanics and material instabilities, hosted a session that invited children to build their own structures using a magnetic modeling kit. Participants were challenged to figure out how to build a structurally-sound model, and then to build bridges connecting their structure to their neighbor’s creation.</p>
<p>“I was expecting them to be much more creative than adults are, and it was very obvious that they were thinking of all kinds of solutions that we probably wouldn’t have even attempted,” Cohen said. “Some of them managed to have buildings with moving objects, some of them built forts, and some managed to build the bridge.”</p>
<p>Admir Masic, the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Professor, and graduate student Hyun Chae “Chad” Loh led a demonstration about bioinspired materials, explaining how learning about biological materials and their designs can be hugely beneficial for the creation of new, high-performance, and more sustainable building materials. During his hands-on presentation, Masic allowed the kids to touch corals, shells, giant squid sucker rings, and silk cocoons, and to use an optical microscope to explore the intricate details of various natural samples, including a deep sea sponge. There was stiff&nbsp;competition to use the microscope, but each member of the group later got to wear&nbsp;3-D glasses to get another look at the materials’ structures on the nanoscale. They also asked&nbsp;Masic questions about his work.</p>
<p>Outside, Marie-Julie Dalbe, a postdoc in Professor Ruben Juanes’ group, and&nbsp;undergraduate exchange student Hannah Galbraith-Olive&nbsp;used bubbles to explain the basics of fluid mechanics. Dalbe and her peers study multiphase flow, which is essentially studying the interactions between bubbles of two different fluids like water and oil, so simplifying their research into soap bubbles was a natural activity for kids, she&nbsp;explained.</p>
<p>Using a homemade bubble solution of soap and glycerin, Dalbe and Galbraith-Olive helped the campers explore&nbsp;what bubbles are, why they pop, and how bubbles can bounce. The participants experimented with blowing bubbles using cut plastic pipettes, mixed and tested their own solutions, and used bubble makers made of wood and rope to run through DuPont Court and create giant&nbsp;bubbles in their wake.</p>
<p>“The idea was to show them how to strengthen bubbles, like how to make them bigger and last longer. My vision was to help the kids figure out why bubbles pop, but they always said:&nbsp;‘Because we pop them,’ ” Dalbe said&nbsp;with a laugh. “The goal was to explain how bubbles pop naturally, and how we could change that with different solutions and conditions.”</p>
<p>During other sessions, the camp attendees had the opportunity to create their own souvenirs. Graduate student Linda Seymour, postdoc Diego López Barreiro, and computer-aided design operator Steve Rudolph helped the participants mix their own rapid-setting cement and design coasters in petri dishes to take home. While waiting for the cement to set, the participants engaged in one of three sub-activities: a laboratory scavenger hunt, activity questionnaires, or coloring sheets, selected based on the age of the group.</p>
<p>Seymour discussed the history of cement and her research into sustainable concrete mixtures. She also told the group about her recent research <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/exploring-ancient-engineering-to-inform-the-future-mit-cee-0731">trip to Italy</a>, and let the participants look at a piece of ancient Roman concrete. &nbsp;</p>
<p>“It was a really great experience to share what we do and to get kids excited about engineering,” Seymour said. “I think it also really helped me as a researcher to think about how I’m presenting what I’m doing and being able to tailor my research to a diverse audience.”</p>
<p>The groups were also able to use the department’s advanced manufacturing equipment to create their own puzzles. The session, led by members the Laboratory for Atomistic and Molecular Mechanics (LAMM) including research scientists Zhao Qin and Francisco&nbsp;Martin-Martinez, graduate student Isabelle Su, and visiting scholar Flavia Libonati,&nbsp;invited the children to select images that would become the basis of a puzzle. The researchers then brought the students into the lab to see the laser cutter in action as it translated the images onto plastic and cut the material into puzzles for the participants to take home. &nbsp;</p>
<p>As engineers for the day, the groups were also tasked with building, testing and improving a variety of tools and designs. Doug Shattuck, a LAMM research affiliate and teacher at nearby Concord Middle School, and&nbsp;Najia Lloyd, a student member of the MIT-Concord Middle School Research Team, set up four stations for the camp participants to show their creativity and to try to build functional and well-designed devices. Among the tasks were building a marshmallow catapult with tongue depressors; using a magnet, battery, and wire to make a spinning motor; using a spool and pencil to create a racing dragster; and making&nbsp;a flying paper vortex. Shattuck established his personal benchmarks before the camp began, but his&nbsp;records were quickly beaten, and the kids were challenged with beating the records again and again throughout the day.</p>
<p>Shattuck found that&nbsp;the marshmallow catapult was the most popular activity. “I think the kids who were interested could get their minds into it more; it was a little bit easier to understand, and they could make it as simple or complicated as they wanted,” he said. “On the other hand, everybody could do it. And if they really wanted to, they could eat the marshmallows — as long as they didn’t hit the floor.”</p>
<p>The camp participants also learned&nbsp;how structures respond to earthquakes, and the importance of creating and understanding properly-engineered structures. CEE lecturer Gordana Herning explained to the group how earthquakes occur, showed the students how earthquakes are recorded in online databases, and showed the extent of the damage that they&nbsp;cause around the world.</p>
<p>Next, Herning challenged the children to build their own structures using string, pipe cleaners, and K’Nex building sets, and to consider what needed&nbsp;to be included in the designs to make the structures more resilient. The final task was to test the structures against an earthquake simulation using a shake table. Some structures were able to withstand the movement, but others ended up&nbsp;warped by the simulated disaster. At the end of the session, Herning identified potential areas for improvement in each creation and showed how critical the right designs can be for durability.</p>
<p>CEE Kids Camp wrapped up with an ice cream sundae bar and plastic water bottle trivia, where attendees competed to answer questions about the use of disposable water bottles, showed off their creations, and indulged in sweet treats. &nbsp;</p>
<p>“The kids were really impressive in all of the stations, and it was great to see them engaging with our researchers here at MIT throughout the day,” Buehler said. “Each year CEE Kids Camp improves, and it wouldn’t be possible without the help of our community members who volunteered time and energy towards making the event such a great success. We’re already looking forward to hosting the camp again next summer.”</p>
Participants in CEE’s second annual Kids Camp built structures using a magnetic modeling kit as part of an activity hosted by Professor Tal Cohen. Photo: Allison Dougherty/Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Civil and environmental engineering, Classes and programs, Special events and guest speakers, STEM education, K-12 education, Education, teaching, academicsDemo day showcases serious innovation in “playful” techhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/play-labs-demo-day-innovation-playful-tech-0817
Play Labs startups include virtual pets, nausea-reducing virtual reality games, and augmented-reality paintballing.Thu, 17 Aug 2017 12:30:00 -0400Rob Matheson | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/play-labs-demo-day-innovation-playful-tech-0817<p>As “playful” technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) become increasingly prevalent in the gaming world —&nbsp;and the real world — MIT continues to find ways to support innovation and entrepreneurship in those areas.</p>
<p>In January, the MIT Game Lab, along with Bayview Labs and the Seraph Group, announced the launch of Play Labs, a new summer accelerator specifically for playful technologies. The first cohort of 13 startups was selected in June.</p>
<p>Tuesday night, at the inaugural Play Labs demo event, those startups presented to the public the products they’ve developed in the accelerator. Afterward, the crowd was treated to live demonstrations of the technologies.</p>
<p>VR-focused startups presented prototypes for virtual pets, nausea-reducing games, novel social and strategy games, and even advanced corporate and fitness training applications. Other startups incorporated AR features into popular activities, such as escape games and paintballing. Still others brought new social features, advanced computer vision, and real-time data analysis to eSports, which is competitive online gaming complete with spectators and betting.</p>
<p>In his opening remarks, video game entrepreneur Rizwan Virk ’92, executive director and co-founder of Play Labs and Bayview, discussed the inspiration for and importance of launching an accelerator focused entirely on playful technologies.</p>
<p>Video games have been critical to the advancement of computer science, he said. Artificial intelligence traces its roots to computers designed to play chess, chat bots have origins in text adventure games, and virtual reality was inspired by first-person shooters. “Most technologies we use have some root in games,” he said to the crowd gathered in Room 10-250.</p>
<p>But Play Labs was also inspired, in part, by personal experience. Struggling to fund his first startup, Brainstorm, Virk had to buy computers to test his software and return them within 30 days for a full refund. “We wanted to give this new generation of startups a way to jump across these problems,” he said.</p>
<p>Each startup that entered Play Labs in June received an initial investment of $20,000, “so they didn’t have to buy and return their own computers,” Virk joked. The startups also received weekly mentorship from experienced playful tech entrepreneurs from MIT and elsewhere. Now that they’ve graduated, the startups are eligible for $80,000 in additional funding from the accelerator and its partners.</p>
<p>During the demo event, each startup delivered a brief presentation of their technology to a crowd of investors, MIT community members, and the general public. An online stream also aired on the West Coast and in China, two major areas for investment. Startups were seeking seed capital of a few hundred thousand to about a million dollars.</p>
<p>But the real fun started after the pitches, when the large crowd tested out the prototypes outside the lecture hall, in the lobby under the MIT dome, and outside of Building 10.</p>
<p>Surrounded by eager testers was RidgeLine Labs, creator of RoVR, a VR dog simulator that lets users care for a virtual canine in an ever-expanding virtual world. During the pitches, co-founder Henry Zhou, a Tufts University student, presented a video of the simulation, where the user found a cute, friendly pup in a box in a park, then went through various scenarios of feeding, bathing, walking, training, and playing with the dog. In the lobby, excited attendees donned the VR headset and handsets to scoop up the dog and pet it in their arms.</p>
<p>The idea was conceived after Zhou noticed the abundance of pet videos posted on social media — and “because my mom never let me have a dog growing up,” Zhou told <em>MIT News</em>. RoVR can be used by people who may not have access to real pets, he said.</p>
<p>Before entering Play Labs, RidgeLine’s virtual dog was “a lot uglier,” Zhou said. Among other things, the accelerator provided much-needed capital to hire employees to refine the animation.</p>
<p>Now, the simulation is on Kickstarter, has a much larger network of investors and industry experts, and is ready to launch. “The marketing, the fundraising, the pitching skills that we gained from Play Labs were huge. Now I feel truly prepared to take the product from prototype to release,” Zhou said.</p>
<p>Another MIT spinout invented a VR game that incorporated a solution to a major VR issue: nausea. VRemedy Labs is developing an intensity “dial,” based on MIT research, that mitigates queasiness caused by VR games. Features such as light, movement, speed, and acceleration contribute to nausea. Games generally offer only either a comfort setting, with features minimized, or an exciting setting, with features at full intensity. The startup’s dial, however, lets players choose between 100 different, slightly modified levels of intensity.</p>
<p>“When you turn the dial up, features change accordingly to what feels most comfortable,” co-founder Eric LaCava, a senior in electrical engineering and computer science told<em> MIT News</em>. “Someone playing at 55 is playing a very similar game to someone playing at 100, but the attacks on their body are lessened.”</p>
<p>At the event, the startup demonstrated its first superhero game, I Hate Heroes, which it’s been developing for only a month and a half. LaCava said Play Labs provided the first-time entrepreneurs, among other things, valuable mentorship in launching their startup. “We needed the guidance a lot more than we needed the money,” LaCava said. “They really walked us through what it’s like to do this for the first time … and how to get into this market without falling prey to some of the things startups usually do.” The startup is now in talks with Sony and other companies as potential partners.</p>
<p>The AR-based startups updated two very popular types of hobbies: escape rooms, where players are locked in a room and must solve puzzles to exit, and action sports, such as paintball and airsoft. Escape Labs is developing holographic content — such as portals, creatures, and interactive puzzles — that players can interact with in physical escape rooms. A growing industry, there are now 1,900 escape room locations in the United States alone.</p>
<p>Total Respawn, which had a long line at its booth outside Building 10, creates real-life AR first-person shooter games for action sports arenas. In his pitch, co-founder Mark Belmarsh showed a video of the startup’s first game, where a player uses a real paintball or airsoft gun to shoot zombies. The technology allows for video game graphics in physical arenas, tracking hits digitally, and sharing content online, much like an eSport. The startup has two locations signed on for this fall.</p>
<p>“Anything capable of happening in a video game is capable of recreating in augmented reality [for the arena], so helicopters flying around, explosions, you name it,” Belmarsh said. Moreover, this will “transform traditional action sports today from niche hobbies with cult following into a competitive sport with mass market appeal.”</p>
<p>Of course, it wasn’t all games. Some startups developed their technologies for reasons other than gaming. Coresights, for instance, combines virtual and augmented reality technologies with biometric wearables to improve corporate and wellness training. Similarly, Minda Labs developed a VR application for diversity training in simulated scenarios to build empathy and communication skills. And Datavized creates unique VR 3-D visualizations of data that aim to thoroughly immerse people in information to improve decision making.</p>
<p>Other teams were:</p>
<p>Esports One: developing advanced computer vision and real-time data analysis platform for eSports to help players get immediate information for betting.</p>
<p>Hidden Switch: an MIT Media Lab spinout developing a feature that lets eSports community members connect with some of the biggest eSports stars.</p>
<p>Empathy Box: developing a first-person, mystery-adventure game set in a magical world of tech startups.</p>
<p>SavvyStat: developing deep learning and predictive tools for managing virtual economies and virtual goods in games.</p>
<p>Team Future: created Black Hat Cooperative<em>,</em> an award-winning stealth game that pits a player and an ally against robot agents trying to remove players from the game.</p>
<p>Wonda VR: developing intuitive tools to turn 360-degree videos into engaging VR experiences with a drag-and-drop interface and one-click publishing.</p>
Tuesday night, at the inaugural Play Labs demo event, 13 startups presented products they’ve developed in the accelerator. Afterward, the crowd was treated to live demonstrations of the technologies.Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Startups, Video games, Augmented and virtual reality, Game Lab, Comparative Media Studies/Writing, SHASS, Special events and guest speakersQ&amp;A: Richard Binzel on tips for observing the 2017 solar eclipsehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/qa-richard-binzel-tips-for-observing-solar-eclipse-0815
Whether you&#039;ll be in the path of totality on Aug. 21 or anywhere else in North America, you should be able to view the eclipse.Tue, 15 Aug 2017 13:30:09 -0400MIT Alumni Associationhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/qa-richard-binzel-tips-for-observing-solar-eclipse-0815<p><em>It has been nearly a century since a total solar eclipse traversed coast-to-coast across the continental United States. Everyone in North America will have a view of the moon blocking at least part of the sun, in what's known as a partial solar eclipse (depending on local cloud cover, of course). But the spectacle of a lifetime is seeing the sun completely, 100 percent eclipsed by the moon. A narrow “path of totality” will stretch from Salem, Oregon on the West Coast to Lincoln, Nebraska, to St. Louis, Missouri, to Charleston, South Carolina on the East Coast. In these locations, even cloudy skies won't keep you from experiencing the magic of a total eclipse. At and around MIT, the moon will take its first “bite” out of the sun at 1:28 p.m. EDT, max out at 63 percent coverage at 2:46 p.m., and take its last bite out of the sun at 3:59 p.m.</em></p>
<p><em>Eclipse enthusiast Richard P. Binzel, a professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences at MIT, recently gave the MIT Alumni Association some tips on viewing 2017's spectacular eclipse. Binzel will be leading an&nbsp;Alumni Association Travel Program <a href="https://alum.mit.edu/travel/travel-schedule-2017/idaho-2017" target="_blank">trip to Idaho</a> to view the totality in person. He joins a number of leaders at and around MIT who will be helping individuals observe and enjoy the eclipse. On MIT campus, there will be a <a href="https://eapsweb.mit.edu/solar-eclipse-2017" target="_blank">solar viewing party</a> on the Kresge Oval, free and open to the public. A special <a href="http://eapsweb.mit.edu/solar-eclipse-viewing-mit-wallace-observatory" target="_blank">viewing event at MIT's Wallace Observatory</a> will also take place. </em></p>
<p><strong>Q: </strong>What’s the difference between seeing a partial versus total solar eclipse?</p>
<p><strong>A: </strong>A total solar exlipse is a million times more spectacular than a partial eclipse. That is not hyperbole, it is precisely the factor by which the brightness of the sun and the sky changes (in an instant!) at the moment of transition from partial eclipse to total eclipse. At the moment total eclipse begins, the last sliver of the sun’s disk becomes hidden behind the edge of the moon. For the duration of the total eclipse — about two minutes — nightfall is all around you even though it is midday. Stars appear in the sky! All that is visible of the sun is its eerie outer glowing halo called the corona. Then just as instantly, the total eclipse ends and daylight dramatically returns as the moon continues its motion, allowing the sun’s disk to re-emerge.</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> Where will this year's total solar eclipse take place?</p>
<p><b>A: </b>NASA's <a href="https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/interactive_map/index.html" rel="external" target="_blank">interactive map</a> lets you zoom in exactly on where is the closest or most convenient place for you to travel to be in the path of the total eclipse on August 21.</p>
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<p><strong>Q:</strong> Even those not in the path of totality will be able to view the eclipse. So what should viewers do about eye safety?</p>
<p><b><b>A:</b> </b>Everyone talks about eye safety during solar eclipses. It is not because the sun’s light is any more dangerous during an eclipse. (It’s not!) The issue is that eclipses are a time when we are all interested to stare at the sun, and it is never safe to stare at the sun without proper protection. So no matter where you will be on August 21, order a pair of special “eclipse glasses.” They are relatively inexpensive and are readily available, while supplies last. Regular sunglasses are not sufficiently safe for solar eclipse viewing. It is perfectly safe to be pursuing normal activities outside during an eclipse without eclipse glasses. Just have those glasses handy so that you can take a moment to stare at the sun and check out the workings of the cosmos! If you want to use binoculars or a telephoto lens, proper protection is required over the front of those lenses too!</p>
<p><strong>Q: </strong>Where outside is a good place to watch?</p>
<p><b>A: </b>Any place outside that you can see the sun itself is a place where you can view the eclipse. It can be a yard, a driveway, a parking lot, a baseball field, etc. Any place where the sun is not blocked by trees or buildings is a place where you can view the eclipse. In places where a total solar eclipse is visible, even if the weather is cloudy and you can’t see the sun at all, you will notice that everything is unusually dark as you get to the time of maximum eclipse. In fact, you may see streetlights switching on in response to the darkening skies.</p>
<p><strong>Q: </strong>What time is the eclipse, and what will I see?</p>
<p><b>A:</b> Everything happens on Monday, August 21, starting in the morning on the West Coast through early afternoon on the East Coast as the moon’s shadow sweeps from west to east. For exact details on the timing of events, click on your viewing location using NASA's <a href="https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/interactive_map/index.html" rel="external" target="_blank">interactive map</a>.<b> </b>If you are in the path of totality, and the sun is completely covered by the moon, this is the only exception when you can stare at the sun without eclipse glasses. That’s because the sun’s bright disk is covered and you will see only the faint outer halo of the sun. That halo, called the solar corona, will be studied intensively by scientists during the fleeting minutes of totality.<b> </b>If you decide to travel to be within the “path of totality” on August 21, good for you! Arrive at your destination at least one day — 24 hours; two days might be even better — in advance as eclipse traffic jams on or before August 21 could be legendary! Some folks may take to the highways to race against the weather as the time of totality approaches. Traffic safety suggests this may not be a good idea. Remember, you will experience the sudden change in darkness even if you find yourself under clouds for the main event.</p>
<p>Watch this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2012/nov/14/solar-eclipse-australia-video" rel="external" target="_blank">video example</a> of the dramatic change from a partial eclipse to a total eclipse, demonstrating why you should journey into the path of totality. You can also check out a <a href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4314" rel="external" target="_blank">NASA visualization</a> for how and why the moon’s shadow will move across the U.S. on August 21.</p>
<p><em>A version of this article was originally published by the MIT Alumni Association.</em></p>
A map of the United States shows the path of totality for the August 21 solar eclipse.Image: Ernie Wright/Goddard Space Flight CenterSpace, astronomy and planetary science, Faculty, EAPS, Special events and guest speakers, School of ScienceTraining students&#039; eyes on the skieshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/training-students-eyes-on-skies-mit-astronomy-camp-0810
MIT hosts Astronomy Training Camp for student-run national astronomy team.Thu, 10 Aug 2017 13:50:01 -0400Helen Hill | EAPShttps://news.mit.edu/2017/training-students-eyes-on-skies-mit-astronomy-camp-0810<p>During the last week in July, 15 high school students from across the U.S. traveled to MIT to participate in the second annual MIT Astronomy Training Camp (ATC), in support of the USA Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (<a href="http://usaaao.org/" target="_blank">USAAAO</a>), the student-run national astronomy team.</p>
<p>The group included four of the five&nbsp;USAAAO&nbsp;2017 team members, plus 11 others participating in the camp out of a curiosity about astronomy — and to perhaps land a spot on next year's team.</p>
<p>USAAAO team members study astronomical theory throughout the year on their own and through weekly online group chats. The weeklong residential training camp supplements this self-study by focusing on topics that are difficult to learn on one's own: how to set up and use a telescope, how to recognize constellations, and how to analyze astronomical data.</p>
<p>The ATC is run by <a href="http://eapsweb.mit.edu/people/asbosh" target="_blank">Amanda Bosh</a>&nbsp;a senior lecturer in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). "I'm so impressed by the incredible dedication of the student organizers of the USAAAO. They formed a national team on their own, and previous team members have been working with new team members to help prepare for the international competition. For the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, many countries support their teams on a national level, with years of assistance and training. At MIT, we're helping out by providing resources in the form of telescopes to use for practice, a space for students to come together and learn as a group, and assistance from myself and MIT undergraduates."</p>
<p>Classes at the camp were taught by Bosh and by Harvard University graduate students Roxana Pop and Ioana Zelko. Also participating were MIT undergraduates Evan Tey, Cecilia Siqueiros, Max Kessler, and Viban Gonzalez as well as Anicia Arredondo and Bryan Brzycki. Chris Peterson, senior assistant director with MIT’s Department of Undergraduate Education, helped with logistics.</p>
<p>ATC activities included an opening reception in the Ida Green Lounge of MIT Building 54; a tour of campus with Ho Chit Siu SM '15, an EAPS graduate who is currently a PhD candidate aeronautics and astronautics; night sky observing on the rooftop observing platform used by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEWskDclsIc" target="_blank">Observe@MIT</a>&nbsp;(on Building 37); a trip to the Wallace Astrophysical Observatory, and a field trip to the Harvard Museum to view an exhibit on scientific instruments.</p>
<p>A visit to the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science in Boston was made possible by a special gift to the Astronomy Training Camp from Robert N. Gurnitz '60, SM '61, PhD '66 and his wife, Ellen, who also sponsored last year’s pilot Astronomy Training Camp. Their generous gift allowed the students to have a private session at the planetarium, where Planetarium Coordinator Talia Sepersky had prepared their state-of-the-art Zeiss Starmaster projector to show the night sky as it will appear in Thailand in November (the time and place of the competition). Using laser pointers, the camp participants pointed out constellations, bright stars, and deep sky objects with Sepersky blinking on the constellation lines and boundaries to assist the students in identifying the smaller and fainter stellar groupings.</p>
<p>On Friday, the last full day of camp, the students were treated to in-depth talks on cosmology by MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research postdoc Paul Torrey, and on exoplanets by EAPS Heising-Simons Fellow Jason Dittmann. Lively conversations on current research followed each presentation.</p>
<p>The camp was clearly a once in a lifetime experience for these students. As one participant put it: “The opportunity to learn and talk with other students who are just as passionate as you is one of the best experiences you can have as a high school student interested in astronomy and astrophysics.”</p>
The path of the International Space Station can be seen from the Observe@MIT rooftop observing platform on Building 37. Participants in the second annual MIT Astronomy Training Camp took to the roof for pointers on night sky observing.Photo: Amanda BoshSpecial events and guest speakers, STEM education, K-12 education, EAPS, Space, astronomy and planetary science, Astronomy, School of ScienceHacking functional fabrics to aid emergency responsehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/hacking-functional-fabrics-aid-emergency-response-0801
MIT and other innovators design novel solutions for the battlefield, disaster sites, and other dangerous environments.Tue, 01 Aug 2017 12:00:00 -0400Rob Matheson | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/hacking-functional-fabrics-aid-emergency-response-0801<p>Hazardous environments such as disaster sites and conflict zones present many challenges for emergency response. But the new field of functional fabrics — materials modified to incorporate various sensors, connect to the internet, or serve multiple purposes, among other things — holds promise for novel solutions.</p>
<p>Over the weekend, MIT became a hotbed for developing those solutions.</p>
<p>A three-day hackathon on campus brought together students and researchers from MIT and around Boston who developed functional fabric concepts to solve major issues facing soldiers in combat or training, first responders, victims and workers in refugee camps, and many others. The event was hosted by the MIT Innovation Initiative, the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) Institute, and MD5, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and a network of national research universities.</p>
<p>Participants pitched their ideas on Friday night. By Sunday afternoon, more than 20 teams stationed around the MIT Media Lab’s sixth floor had design mockups drawn on poster boards, algorithms and brainstorming notes scribbled on large sheets of hanging paper, and even hardware and software prototypes on display.</p>
<p>Two winning teams earned grand prizes of up to $15,000, courtesy of MD5. <a href="https://cambridgehack.md5.net/idea/BmAW9K8QSRjBKTdzk">Remote Triage</a>, formed by MIT students, designed an automated triage system for field medics, consisting of sensor-laden clothing that detects potential injury and a web platform that prioritizes care. The other team, <a href="https://cambridgehack.md5.net/idea/EknLYDYvDbXjFyaz3">Security Blanket</a>, designed a double-sided, multipurpose blanket for people displaced from their homes, based on an idea from a Drexel University student.</p>
<p>Some other <a href="https://cambridgehack.md5.net/ideas">ideas</a> included smart belts that passively detect radiation exposure in submarines; military gear fitted with radio-frequency identification tags to manage materials and improve packing efficiency; biometric-monitoring stickers that detect potential post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms; lightweight body armor designed to better protect the heart and neck; stress-detecting shirts that improve military training exercises; and uniforms made with materials and tiny fans that deliver cool and hot airflow across the body. All teams were invited to continue working with MD5.</p>
<p>“This is just the start,” Bill Kernick, technology and partnership development executive for MD5 told <em>MIT News</em>. “The idea of the hackathon is getting the sparks of these ideas moving and creating a relationship with these innovators, who may have not thought about working with DoD, to help solve some really hard problems.”</p>
<p>In that regard, Vladimir Bulović, co-director of the MIT Innovation Initiative and the Fariborz Maseeh (1990) Professor of Emerging Technology, said the hackathon embodies MIT’s goal of developing innovations for real-world applications. “As long as we can deliver impact that leads toward productive next steps, we have succeeded in our mission,” he said.</p>
<p>Through the hackathon, Bulović added, participants were also introduced to the newly launched AFFOA — a consortium of which MIT is a partner — and learned about the ever-growing possibilities of functional fabrics. “Fiber as a format that can deliver electronics, optics, photonics … is an entirely new platform that has not existed before,” he said. “It’s a new frontier.”</p>
<p>On Friday night, hackathon participants listened to talks from various experts —&nbsp;including military officers, first responders, and government representatives — who described major challenges they face in their fields. Participants brainstormed solutions, pitched their ideas to all attendees, and ultimately formed a total of 22 teams. Experts and mentors, from MIT and elsewhere, were on hand all weekend to help teams shape their ideas. (Some experts also joined individual teams.) On Sunday, a panel of judges — including representatives from industry, AFFOA, and MIT — chose 10 teams as finalists to pitch ideas, with two teams emerging as the big winners.</p>
<p>Some teams entered the hackathon with established ideas they wanted to refine. The finalist team OREverywhere, for instance, tweaked its augmented-reality (AR) headgear over the weekend to help field medics. The AR system displays biometric information collected from wearable sensors worn by soldiers and connects all medics on the field. A medic, for instance, can see when a soldier is injured, alert nearby medics, provide advice during care, and monitor everything via video feed — all while helping another soldier. During Sunday’s pitch round, the team presented a live demonstration.</p>
<p>Other teams developed their concepts entirely over the weekend. The MIT students of Remote Triage, who are all friends, landed on their winning idea during dinner, after hearing from an expert about problems with battlefield triage efficiency. “We came in with literally nothing. We weren’t even planning on pitching,” team member Aditi Gupta, a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, told <em>MIT News</em>.</p>
<p>In two days, the team of six, including a former military officer, designed a mockup of an automated triage system called VITAL. It includes a garment integrated with sensors that continuously monitor vital signs. Signals are sent to a machine-learning algorithm that determines the necessary order of care for injured soldiers, from least urgent to most urgent, color-coded as green, yellow, red, and black. Other features also help the medic determine the whereabouts of the soldier down and the location of their injury, among other things.</p>
<p>With the prize money and other resources from MD5, Gupta said the team now aims to design sensor-laden clothing and further develop the machine-learning algorithm that will power their platform. They’re meeting with MD5 next week to discuss options for moving forward.</p>
<p>Gupta was surprised at how much the team completed in a short time. Hackathons, she added, really help participants — especially tech-minded MIT students — find real-world applications for their ideas and people to help make those ideas a reality. “Hackathons are useful in opening your mind and seeing the bigger picture in terms of how your technology fits in society,” she says, “as well as meeting people out of your field that have knowledge and expertise you don’t.”</p>
<p>Christina Kara, a Drexel University student who manages a lab that researches functional fabrics, had a similar experience. After hearing a first responder talk about working with Hurricane Katrina victims —&nbsp;who were in desperate need of tarps and blankets, and suffered from bacterial skin infections — she pitched the winning concept behind Security Blanket.</p>
<p>Teaming up with that first responder and a few others, the group developed a multipurpose comfort blanket for refugee camps or disaster relief that consists of a waterproof, flexible, robust material on the outside. The inside is lined with antimicrobial, soft, and quick-drying microfibers. The blankets can roll out into a sleeping bag or fold into a backpack. Luminescent strips on the outside improve safety by increasing visibility at night, as well.</p>
<p>“In the five minutes we’ve talked to you, 100 people have been displaced in the world,” Kara said during her team’s pitch. “This is not a problem that’s going away. When we have something that’s fairly affordable, multiuse tool to empower them in their everyday life … you’re improving the experience of these individuals.”</p>
<p>After being announced a winner on Sunday, Kara was in shock, but excited to move forward with her idea, with help from MD5. “Being in a situation, where I have a problem to solve and think about was a new experience for me,” Kara told <em>MIT News</em>. “It was an amazing experience.”</p>
A three-day hackathon on campus brought together students and researchers from MIT and around Boston who developed functional fabric concepts to solve major issues facing soldiers in combat or training, first responders, victims and workers in refugee camps, and many others.
Photo: Lacey Seymour PhotographyInnovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Special events and guest speakers, Invention, Security studies and military, Medical devices, Sensors, Students, Materials Science and Engineering, Innovation Initiative, Industry, Technology and society, Collaboration, Government, Media LabDefiance: Disobedience for the good of allhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/defiance-disobedience-for-the-good-of-all-mit-media-lab-0725
MIT Media Lab summer event explores responsible dissent, embodied in its new Disobedience Award.Tue, 25 Jul 2017 15:20:01 -0400MIT Media Labhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/defiance-disobedience-for-the-good-of-all-mit-media-lab-0725<p>The mood was electric at the MIT Media Lab on July 21 when more than 500 people gathered for its annual summer event, this year called <a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/events/defiance/" target="_blank">Defiance</a>. Attendees were buzzing with news that had broken on the eve of the symposium: The Media Lab had not only chosen the winners of its new <a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/posts/disobedience-award/">Disobedience Award</a>, it had also selected several honorable mentions because the pool of more than 7,800 nominations was so rich with achievements that deserved recognition.</p>
<p>“We wanted to honor the people who found ways to say, ‘The systems aren’t working for us — we really need to step outside them and do something radically different,’” said Ethan Zuckerman, director of the MIT Center for Civic Media and a member of the award selection committee. Zuckerman said that the panel also wanted to recognize those working for good within institutions. “They’re taking brave steps and actions to make sure those institutions live up to their values and to their higher purpose, not just to the rules behind them.”</p>
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<p>In selecting the honorees, Zuckerman, Media Lab Director Joi Ito, and 10 other committee members focused on work that impacts society in positive ways, and is consistent with a set of key principles, including nonviolence, creativity, courage, and responsibility for one’s actions. Nominees had to be a living person or group engaged in “extraordinary disobedience for the benefit of society.”</p>
<p>The creation of the award was announced at <a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/events/forbidden-research/">Forbidden Research</a>, the lab’s 2016 summer event. Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, provided the funds after he and Ito came up with the idea last year. “The prize shines a light on the voices we should be listening to,” Hoffman said at Defiance. “On what examples we should be setting for ourselves and for our future selves. Some of the most important human progress comes when you are essentially speaking truth to power.”</p>
<p><strong>Disobedience Award winners</strong></p>
<p>The committee decided that’s exactly what Michigan pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha and Virginia Tech professor of engineering Marc Edwards did in investigating lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan, and exposing official misconduct in the crisis. Both Hanna-Attisha and Edwards decided to donate their shares of the $250,000 prize to the people of Flint.</p>
<p>“It’s those kids who need these resources,” said Hanna-Attisha. “My activism today is to make sure that we don’t sit back and ignore the consequences of lead exposure. We know what it does to children. My commitment is to turn this around.” Edwards called himself a “serial troublemaker,” having exposed scientific misconduct by federal agencies connected to lead-contaminated water in Washington in 2004. “We were destined to see it repeated, and we knew something like Flint was going to happen. Ultimately, I got a call from a Flint mom who saw all the signs and then we started working with Flint residents so that they could save their own day.” Edwards and Hanna-Attisha persevered in the face of harassment and academic sanctions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Honorable mentions</strong></p>
<p>James Hansen said his work also got him “in a lot of trouble.” He was one of three award finalists who received a $10,000 honorable mention. Hansen, widely recognized as a pioneer of climate change research, said he’s had “some differences with the scientific community, and I still do. There are many issues where we need to stand up and tell what we think is the truth even if the powers that be don’t like it.”</p>
<p>The co-founders of Freedom University Georgia, which offers free classes and college prep to undocumented students and were also recognized as finalists, faced pressure as well. “Freedom U initially emerged in 2011 as an act of defiance against our employer [the state’s higher education board],” said Lorgia García-Peña. She and three other professors also at the University of Georgia at that time — Betina Kaplan, Bethany Moreton, and Pamela Voekel — established the school in collaboration with a coalition of undocumented students and immigrants’ rights activists. Now one-fifth of Freedom University students win full merit scholarships to traditional colleges.</p>
<p>When he introduced the third finalist to be honored — the Water Protectors of Standing Rock, who launched the massive protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline — Ito pointed out that many successful movements don’t have clear leadership. LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said she doesn’t see herself as a leader. “Everything just happened because we stood in prayer and nonviolent resistance.” Allard mesmerized the audience as she related how the Standing Rock protest gained momentum. “It was all the people who came together. It was all the people who understood that water was important. It was all the people of the world who know that we have to change now. And we cannot back down.”</p>
<p>“We have been defiant for 500 years,” said Phyllis Young, a fellow protector of Standing Rock and longtime Lakota activist who shared the honorable mention with Allard, Jasilyn Charger, and Joseph White Eyes. Like Allard, Young also captivated the crowd as she chronicled the history of resistance by her ancestors. “We are the people on the edge,” she said, adding that she’d like to collaborate with MIT.</p>
<p>Young’s wish resonated with Megan Smith ’86, SM ’88, former White House CTO and a member of the Media Lab advisory council. Smith was so moved by the stories of Standing Rock that, together with MIT’s Vice President for Research Maria Zuber, she suggested a Dakota-MIT summit on green energy. That announcement drew loud applause, especially when Young said “Yes, we could coordinate with the brass ring.”</p>
<p><strong>A nod to the past</strong></p>
<p>“Defiance is a celebration of the highest instance in human nature,” said the event’s emcee, Farai Chidaya. The veteran journalist and analyst, who recently joined the Media Lab as a Director’s Fellow, said that defiant work allows us “to transcend unjust rules and restrictions, and to surface the love of humanity in ways that are brave and risky.”</p>
<p>Another new Director’s Fellow, Jamila Raqib, picked up on that theme. She’s executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution and a Nobel Prize nominee in the peace category. The Einstein Institution is based on the legendary physicist’s belief, said Raqib, “that strategically applied nonviolent defiance offers humanity the best hope for bringing about a world with more peace and justice.” &nbsp;</p>
<p>Past achievements laid the groundwork for the Disobedience Award winners and finalists, stressed another speaker, Gregg Pascal Zachary, author and Arizona State University professor. “Your legitimacy as rebels and dissenters today in part depends upon the legitimacy gained by dissenters and rebels. History can show you patterns, how they play out, so you can anticipate what you might face in your struggle.” Fellow presenter Julia Reda agreed. She represents the European Pirate Party, a movement to defend freedoms online, and said that progress will only happen “if somebody has planted the seed for change of thinking in society. This is what defiant people actually do.” Reda went on to talk about her unconventional path to politics, as an outsider now making the most of having “a seat at the table.” &nbsp;</p>
<p>Echoing that sentiment was Ed You, a supervisory special agent in the FBI’s Biological Countermeasures Unit. He thinks the agency would benefit from bringing biohackers to the table as well. “What a fantastic act of defiance that would be. Members of the hacker community can come up with solutions for the FBI, and it’s important for everyone to push their comfort level.” Adam Foss, a former prosecutor who is working to reform the criminal justice system, also talked about bringing more people — and greater diversity — to the table. Foss told the audience that “the seats in this room that are not filled could be representative of black and brown bodies that could be here sharing their ideas. The lack of those ideas is impacting all of us.”</p>
<p>Engagement with other people is critical, said journalist and author Masha Gessen. “It is really important to talk with people who affirm your reality. But if that’s all you’re getting, then you’re not actually engaging with reality. I think we have to accept a level of discomfort for ourselves, too.”</p>
<p><strong>Giving voice to underrepresented people</strong></p>
<p>Esra’a Al Shafei, another Defiance speaker, is a Bahraini activist and founder of <a href="http://Majal.org" target="_blank">Majal.org</a>, a network of online platforms that amplify marginalized voices. “Defiance goes beyond dissent,” she said. “It’s creating avenues for self-expression. If you keep lowering the barriers through music, for instance, it makes censorship much harder, and encourages young people to develop their own identity and feel more in charge of their own voices.” Speaking of music, Al Shafei somehow found a way to weave singers Céline Dion and Meatloaf into her presentation, cracking up the audience throughout her time on the stage. Jose Antonio Vargas also had them laughing. “Humor is so important,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and media entrepreneur said. “If I didn’t laugh about my own circumstances, I don’t know where I’d be.” He shared the stories of his life as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S., his home for almost 24 years. “The reality now though is when you have privilege like I did, like I do, is … what are you doing to risk it? What does it mean to stand up for your undocumented neighbors, classmates, and co-workers?”</p>
<p>While Vargas focused on issues of today, the next session again drew from examples of defiance in history, and also considered the tensions between science and faith. In a discussion between Dominican priest Eric Salobir and Maria Zuber, moderated by Berkman Klein Center co-founder and Harvard Law Professor Jonathan Zittrain, Zuber said that “we should always be looking at what the data is telling us. If it tells us we should change our idea, then we should change our idea. In the process of change, one thing to learn is having a good enough dialogue and trying to get enough explanations that you can get buy-in to allow change to proceed.”</p>
<p><strong>The audacity of disobedience</strong></p>
<p>Lab director Joi Ito gave a special shout-out to Zuber. She took a risk, he said, in being part of the Disobedience Award selection committee, because she has a position on the National Science Board, which is an advisory body to the U.S. President and Congress. But Ito said that the committee was “very careful to not allow fear or lack of courage to enter the selection process. We were checking each other to make sure there was no kowtowing.” In the end, he said, they were all pleased with their choices.</p>
<p>Reid Hoffman agreed, and announced that he would continue to fund the Disobedience Award. “These are the things that matter. These are the issues that we should surface. This is the light we should point this beacon at. This was a well-validated ‘seed experiment’ that was totally awesome.”</p>
Left to right: LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Media Lab Director Joi Ito joined Disobedience Award finalists Phyllis Young and LaDonna Brave Bull Allard; Betina Kaplan and Lorgia García-Peña; and James Hansen; along with winners Marc Edwards and Mona Hanna-Attisha.Photo: David Silverman PhotographyAwards, honors and fellowships, Special events and guest speakers, Media Lab, Technology and society, Social justice, Ethics, Climate change, Center for Civic Media, SHASS, School of Architecture and Planning, Comparative Media Studies/WritingMIT’s Solve initiative seeks solutions to its 2017 global challengeshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-solve-initiative-seeks-solutions-global-challenges-0719
Applications for problem-solvers interested in four new areas are due August 1.Wed, 19 Jul 2017 00:00:00 -0400MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-solve-initiative-seeks-solutions-global-challenges-0719<p>Solve — MIT’s initiative that brings together problem-solvers of all stripes to tackle the world’s pressing problems — has four new global challenges for 2017: brain health; sustainable urban communities; women and technology; and youth, skills, and the workforce of the future. Applications for those who have a solution to any of these challenges are <a href="https://solve.mit.edu/challenges">due August 1</a>.</p>
<p>Solve issues challenges for anybody around the world to apply to participate in. The program identifies the best solutions through open innovation. And, it builds and convenes a community of leaders who have the resources, the expertise, the mentorship, and the know-how to get each solution piloted, scaled, and implemented.</p>
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<p>At its most recent event last May, Solve convened technologists, social entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers, researchers, and change agents on campus for three days of Solve at MIT.</p>
<p>“As I look out on the world, I’m more certain than ever of the power and significance of the collaborative problem-solving global platform we call Solve,” said MIT President Rafael Reif at Solve at MIT. “In the two and a half years since we first announced Solve, it has evolved in important ways. As many of you know firsthand, since then Solve has launched specific, actionable challenges around refugee education, carbon contributions, chronic diseases, and inclusive innovation. In its first cycle, Solve attracted more than 400 solutions from more than 57 countries.”</p>
<p>The May event celebrated the first cycle of Solvers, who worked on those 2016 challenges, by bringing them together with the Solve community to form partnerships to help implement their solutions. Also at that time, Solve launched its new challenges for 2017. Those challenges are now getting ready to close on August 1. They are:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://solve.mit.edu/challenges/brain-health">Brain Health</a>: How can every person improve their brain health and mental resilience?</li>
<li><a href="https://solve.mit.edu/challenges/sustainable-urban-communities">Sustainable Urban Communities</a>: How can urban communities increase their access to sustainable and resilient food and water sources?</li>
<li><a href="https://solve.mit.edu/challenges/women-and-technology">Women and Technology</a>: How can women and girls of all socioeconomic backgrounds use technology to fully participate and prosper in the economy?</li>
<li><a href="https://solve.mit.edu/challenges/youth-skills-the-workforce-of-the-future">Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future</a>: How can disadvantaged youth learn the skills they need to prepare them for the workforce of the future and thrive in the 21st&nbsp;century?</li>
</ul>
<p>Solve further announced three prizes for the 2017 challenges during Solve at MIT. Applicants for these challenges should be sure to opt in if they’re eligible.</p>
<ol>
<li>Atlassian Foundation International is pledging up to $1 million in grant funding for the Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future Challenge to selected Solvers from non-governmental organizations, nonprofits, social enterprises, academics, entrepreneurs, and for-profit organizations.</li>
<li>The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is pledging up to $1 million in grant funding for the Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future Challenge to selected Solvers who will have an impact in developing countries across the Indo-Pacific.&nbsp;</li>
<li>World-renowned <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1i-Zz6ybw0&amp;t=7s">cellist Yo-Yo Ma</a> is pledging to curate a mentorship prize for selected Solvers who propose solutions based in arts and culture to the four challenges.</li>
</ol>
<p>Applicants who are selected as finalists will join the Solve Challenge Finals in New York City on Sept. 17 during the United Nations General Assembly Week. The Solve pitch session will take place in front of challenge judges, Solve members, and a live audience in New York.&nbsp;</p>
<p>“This is just the beginning of the community, of the marketplace, of the movement,” said Solve Executive Director Alex Amouyel during Solve at MIT. “And to truly realize the vision of Solve, we need you to continue the charge.”</p>
Photo: Adam SchultzSpecial events and guest speakers, President L. Rafael Reif, Global, Brain and cognitive sciences, Cities, Community, Developing countries, education, Education, teaching, academics, K-12 education, Medicine, STEM education, Technology and society, Urban planning, Women, Women in STEMPlay Labs announces first class of VR/AR/playful startups and demo sessionhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/play-labs-accelerator-announces-first-class-vr-ar-playful-startups-demo-session-0627
First accelerator program on the MIT campus will showcase 12 startups across a mix of gaming, virtual reality, esports, and augmented reality technologies.Tue, 27 Jun 2017 11:40:01 -0400Rik Eberhardt | MIT Game Labhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/play-labs-accelerator-announces-first-class-vr-ar-playful-startups-demo-session-0627<p>Play Labs @ MIT, a summer accelerator hosted at the MIT Game Lab, has announced the first batch of startups that have been admitted to the program. This first cohort will meet from June to August, and a demonstration session will take place on Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. at MIT in Room 10-250.</p>
<p>The overall focus of the accelerator is on startups that employ “playful tech” in a variety of industries. The first batch of startups was selected with a concentration on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), as well as online gaming and esports.</p>
<p>The first batch consists of startups spanning a wide breadth of categories, including: VR pets and games (2 startups); VR business applications (2 startups); AR/mixed reality applications and tools (2 startups); VR/VRWeb/360 development tech (3 startups); esports (2 startups); machine vision and deep learning (2 startups); and online games (2 startups).</p>
<p>“We are excited at the quality and breadth of startups that we have in our first batch,” says Rizwan Virk, executive director of Play Labs @ MIT. “Being on campus at MIT gave us access to many innovative entrepreneurs and technologies, and while we had many applicants, the startups we selected in this first class represent the best applications of playful technology. I’m personally inspired to help the next group of MIT startups go on to great success.”</p>
<p>“The inaugural class began with teams of creative, passionate and determined people,” says Tuff Yen, president of Seraph Group and partner at Play Labs @ MIT. “This is history in the making.”</p>
<p>The startups in the first cohort include:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Coresights, which provides evidence-based training to improve wellness and enhance resilience. The platform combines virtual and augmented reality technologies with clinical-grade wearables to make training engaging and capture real-time data.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Datavized, which brings another dimension to enterprise and big data with 3-D visualization. Combining the immersive power of virtual reality with the seamless delivery of the mobile web, the software enables cross platform collaboration and enhanced decision making.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Empathy Box: a company that aims at revolutionizing immersive storytelling. It is the first project by Empathy Box is Myth Machine, a first-person mystery-adventure set in the weird, magical world of tech startups.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Escape Labs, which uses innovative technology to create augmented reality and mixed reality (AR/MR) experiences for escape rooms, team-building exercises, and room-scale puzzles. The startup's goal is to transform the ordinary physical space into a high-quality 4-D experience using holographic content.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Esports One, a revolutionary esports company, comprised of esportspedia, one of the largest esports information resources in the world, and providing an advanced computer vision and real-time data analysis platform for esports</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Hidden Switch, which is developing a digital card battler, Spellsource, whose new gameplay lets you connect with the biggest stars in esports. Based on research at the MIT Media Lab, its mission is to make everybody part of a great player's journey.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Minda Labs, which offers virtual reality diversity training to companies that are looking for fresh, research-driven approaches to improving company culture. The startup's game simulations help employees build empathy and communication skills through practice and feedback from peers.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>RidgeLine, which creates RoVR, the first realistic VR dog simulator that allows players to give tummy rubs to, dress up, and take care of a virtual best canine friend.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>SavvyStat, specializing in deep learning and predictive tools and dashboards for managing virtual economies and virtual goods.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Team Future, which creates Black Hat Cooperative<em>,</em> an award-winning stealth game that pits a player and an ally against robot agents that seek to remove the player from the system.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Total Respawn, which<strong> </strong>creates real-life shooter games for action sports arenas with augmented reality. The startup's product lineup aims to feature experiences from shooting one's way out of a zombie apocalypse to a military-themed "laser tag on steroids."</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>VRemedy, which creates new, empowering locomotion for VR. The MIT startup is focused on mitigating nausea through movement design and training sequences that are specialized to teach motion in the most comfortable manner. Providing development tools alongside a “VR motion acclimation” app will allow developers to provide new levels of immersion for users prone to motion sickness.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Wonda VR, which develops intuitive tools to turn 360-degree videos into engaging VR experiences. It provides a simple drag-and-drop interface and a one-click publishing solution that puts the power of experiential storytelling in the hands of every video creator.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The Play Labs @ MIT demo session will be open to investors, members of the MIT community, and the general public. In addition to the physical event, the session, beginning at 6 p.m. on Aug. 15, will be streamed live via <a href="http://www.playlabs.tv" target="_blank">playlabs.tv</a>.</p>
<p>Play Labs is an incubator/accelerator at MIT that invests and mentors startups utilizing playful technology in a variety of industries. Play Labs is run by by <a href="http://www.bayviewlabs.com" target="_blank">Bayview Labs</a> and its executive director, Rizwan Virk '92, a Silicon Valley angel investor, advisor, and mentor, in conjunction with the <a href="http://www.seraphgroup.net" target="_blank">Seraph Group</a>, a seed-stage venture capital investment firm founded by Tuff Yen.</p>
<p>Ludus, the<em> </em>MIT Center for Games, Learning, and Playful Media, coordinates the efforts of MIT labs and research groups exploring games and play with a community of member practitioners. Research groups include the <a href="http://gamelab.mit.edu" target="_blank">MIT Game Lab</a>; the <a href="http://education.mit.edu" target="_blank">Education Arcade</a>; the <a href="http://icelab.mit.edu" target="_blank">Imagination, Computation, and Expression Laboratory</a>; the <a href="http://tropetank.mit.edu" target="_blank">Trope Tank</a>; the <a href="http://ccimit.mit.edu" target="_blank">Creative Communities Initiative</a>; and the <a href="http://opendoclab.mit.edu" target="_blank">Open Documentary Lab</a>.</p>
Special events and guest speakers, Startups, Video games, Augmented and virtual reality, Game Lab, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Comparative Media Studies/Writing, SHASSSTEX event showcases innovations in fitness technology and sciencehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/stex-event-innovations-fitness-technology-and-science-0626
Entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry experts build connections at workshop.Mon, 26 Jun 2017 16:00:00 -0400Rob Matheson | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/stex-event-innovations-fitness-technology-and-science-0626<p>Many MIT-affiliated startups are innovating in the burgeoning fitness technology and science space, aiming to promote healthier lifestyles and help optimize athletic performance.</p>
<p>Novel products from these startups include a smart chair that fights back pain and diabetes, a sleeve that monitors muscle-movement data that users can share in the cloud, a wristband that tracks blood oxygen levels for greater performance, and even a so-called anti-aging pill.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://startupexchange.mit.edu/startupexchange/html/index.html#viewOpportunity/163">workshop</a> hosted June 22 by the MIT Office Corporate Relations' (OCR) <a href="https://startupexchange.mit.edu/startupexchange/html/index.html">MIT Startup Exchange (STEX) program</a> brought together some of these MIT entrepreneurs and industry experts to showcase their innovations and foster connections that could lead to new business opportunities.</p>
<p>Held throughout the year, the three-hour STEX workshops include lightning presentations from MIT-connected startups; brief talks from academic innovators, industry experts, government representatives, and venture capitalists; startup presentation and demonstration sessions; and an interactive panel discussion.</p>
<p>At last week’s event, eight entrepreneurs pitched their fitness-tech products — several rooted in MIT research — to a crowd of around 80 entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry experts in the OCR headquarters on Main Street, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academic keynote speaker was MIT Novartis Professor of Biology Leonard Guarente, who took the opportunity to demystify the science behind his startup Elysium Health’s “anti-aging pill,” which is made of compounds that aim to thwart age-related cell damage, which can lead to inflammatory and heart diseases, osteoporosis, and diabetes.</p>
<p>STEX events aim to stimulate discussion, foster collaboration, and build partnerships between MIT-connected startups and member companies of MIT's Industrial Liaison Program (ILP). The series covers a broad range of topics: a recent workshop focused on energy storage, while upcoming events will focus on synthetic biology, robotics and drones, cancer therapies, renewable energy, world water issues, and 3-D printing.</p>
<p>“Fitness, wellness and nutrition are very exciting areas, and MIT founders are very active in the space. We certainly have industry coming to campus interested in all of these technologies and products coming from them,” Trond Undheim, who directs STEX and is the organizer of the event, said in his opening remarks.</p>
<p>Presenter Simon Hong, a researcher in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, and CEO of smart-chair startup Robilis, said last week’s STEX workshop provided “an opportunity to interact with potential stakeholders.”</p>
<p>Based on neuroscience research, Robilis developed StandX, a chair with two automated moving halves, side by side. The halves alternate — one dropping down and the other staying straight — making the user sit down on one half while standing on the opposite leg. The frequent alternation prevents stress on the spine caused by sitting in one position for extended periods, and the chair’s design encourages proper posture. The movement also interrupts prolonged sitting, which is associated with diabetes.</p>
<p>During a startup demonstration session midway through the event, Hong’s station was crowded with attendees looking to try out the chair. In the end, he walked away with a few contacts interested in helping with production and in introducing him to potential investors. “I was quite satisfied with the event,” Hong told <em>MIT News</em>. “It is in a way a networking event, and good things tend to happen quite unexpectedly during many, many interactions with people.”</p>
<p>Apart from providing a venue to spread the word about his wearables, the event enabled Alessandro Babini MBA ’15, co-founder of Humon, to connect with larger organizations in the space. Humon, a wearable targeted at endurance athletes, attaches to a muscle, where it monitors blood oxygen levels by shining a light into the skin and analyzing changes in the light that indicate less or more oxygen.</p>
<p>“It was interesting to get an understanding about what big brands seek in partners, what they’re looking to invest in, and what they’re working on now,” Babini told <em>MIT News</em>. “Big corporations have a lot of customers and a big influence on where the market is going.”</p>
<p>Another interesting MIT spinout, figure8, presented a wearable that captures 3-D body movement that can be analyzed by the user or shared with an online community — like a “YouTube” of movement data.</p>
<p>The wearable is a small sleeve made from novel sensor-woven fabric that fits over the arm or leg to track joint and muscle movement. It lets users map the movement of muscle, bone, and ligaments. Put on a knee, for instance, the wearable can map individual ligaments, which is valuable for, say, monitoring the <em>anterior cruciate ligament</em> (ACL). One application is in physical therapy, so athletes can track injuries as they heal.</p>
<p>Users can also map their movement to others. Dancers, for instance, can use the sensor to match their movements to those of others during training. The startup is also developing a platform that lets users upload and share that data in the cloud.</p>
<p>“Before YouTube, no one thought about video as something you can share, upload, and download as a commodity,” said co-founder and CEO Nan-Wei Gong, an MIT Media Lab researcher, during her presentation. “We’re trying to create a system for everyone to collect this motion [data] they can upload and download.”</p>
<p>Other startups that presented included: <a href="https://www.kitchology.com/">Kitchology</a>, <a href="http://www.fitnescity.com/">Fitnescity</a>, <a href="http://digitalnutrition.net/">Digital Nutrition</a>, <a href="http://www.foodforsleep.com/">Food for Sleep</a>, and <a href="http://www.splitsage.com/">SplitSage</a>.</p>
<p>In his keynote, Guarente explained the science and history behind Elysium’s “anti-aging” pill, called Basis, which he himself has been taking for three years. He noted the pill doesn’t necessarily make people feel more youthful or healthier, especially if they’re already healthy. “You should just fall apart more slowly,” Guarente said to laughter from the audience.</p>
<p>Years ago, Guarente and other MIT researchers identified a group of genes called sirtuins that have been demonstrated to slow the aging process in microbes, fruit flies, and mice. For instance, calorie-restricted diets, long known to extend lifespans and prevent many diseases in mammals, is key in activating sirtuins. “It turns out there are compounds that can do the same thing,” Guarente said.</p>
<p>It was later discovered that one of those compounds is abundant in blueberries and that an enzyme called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is essential in carrying out the activity of sirtuins. But NAD deteriorates with age. “If there’s not enough NAD, you don’t activate sirtuins. Metabolism and DNA-repair goes awry, and a lot of things go wrong,” he said.</p>
<p>However, in the NAD synthesis pathway, NAD’s precursor, called <em>nicotinamide riboside</em> (NR), can be injected into an organism, where it would move efficiently into cells and be converted into NAD.</p>
<p>Basis is a combination of NR and the sirtuin-activating compound from blueberries.</p>
<p>Last year, Elysium conducted a 120-person trial. The results indicated that the pills were safe and led to an increase and sustainability of NAD levels. More trials are on the way, and the startup is growing its pipeline of products. It has not yet been shown whether Basis can extend life-span in humans.</p>
<p>“We could really make a difference in people’s health,” Guarente said at the conclusion of his talk. “And it would add to all the … medical devices and DNA analysis and motion sensors, so that people can begin to do what they want to do, which is to take charge of their health.”</p>
<p>The investor speaker was David T. Thibodeau, managing director of Wellvest Capital, an investment banking company specializing in healthy living and wellness. The industry speaker was Matthew Decker, global technical leader in the Comfort and Biophysics Group of W.L. Gore and Associates, the manufacturing company best known for Gore-Tex fabrics.</p>
<p>Panelists were Guarente, Decker, Thibodeau, and Josh Sarmir, co-founder and CEO of SplitSage, an MIT spinout that is developing an analytics platform that can detect “sweet spots” and “blind spots” in people’s fields of vision to aid in sports performance, online advertising, and work safety, among other applications.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>STEX has a growing database of roughly 1,200 MIT-affiliated startups. Last year, OCR, in close partnership with ILP, created <a href="https://startupexchange.mit.edu/startupexchange/html/index.html#stex25">STEX25</a>, an accelerator for 25 startups at any time that focuses on high-level, high-quality introductions. The first cohort of 14 startups have gone through the accelerator, gaining industry partnerships that have led to several pilots, partnerships, and lead client relationships.</p>
Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Startups, Alumni/ae, Special events and guest speakers, Industry, Biology, Research, Invention, Faculty, Staff, Students, Health, Disease, Drug development, Technology and society, Sensors, Sports, McGovern InstituteAfter MIT, new officers will serve their countryhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/after-mit-new-officers-will-serve-their-country-0616
Following their MIT studies, graduates in MIT’s Reserve Officer Training Corps set off on new challenges in the U.S. military.Fri, 16 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400Meg Murphy | School of Engineeringhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/after-mit-new-officers-will-serve-their-country-0616<p>A few hours after they received their MIT diplomas on the Institute’s famed Killian Court, 12 young women and men stood on the deck of the USS Constitution to receive commissions in the U.S. military. “You embody the best of MIT,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif told the new crop of surface warfare officers, pilots, flight officers, reactor and developmental engineers, ordnance officers, aircraft maintenance officers, and medical physicians.</p>
<p>Joined by family and friends, who would later assist in affixing the cadets’ newly minted <a href="https://www.defense.gov/About/Insignias/Officers/" target="_blank">insignias</a>, the graduates of MIT’s Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) took their oaths of service in one of three branches of the U.S. armed services: the Air Force, Army, and Navy. The ROTC program has been active at MIT since 1865, and typically graduates a dozen new officers every year. More than 12,000 officers have been commissioned from MIT since the program’s origin, and more than 150 have reached the rank of general or admiral.</p>
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<p>The guest of honor at this year’s ceremony was four-star Air Force General Darren W. McDew, commander of U.S. Transportation Command. “Our current environment is highly uncertain,” he told the cadets. “We need people who think critically and can bring clarity in crisis. Don’t be afraid to be bold. Lead. Don’t shy away from it. Just lead,” he said. “Do what you know is right.” McDew’s command has responsibilities for air, land, and sea transportation for the Department of Defense and ultimately delivers national objectives on behalf of the president of the United States.</p>
<p>As the sun set, flags whipped in the wind, and a military band played, the cadets pledged to faithfully serve and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Each cadet was then called “front and center” to receive a badge of military rank, pinned in place by parents or siblings, duty stations were announced, commissioning scrolls presented, and first salutes delivered to a mentor of the cadet’s choosing.</p>
<p>Now they are off to new challenges.</p>
<p>Air Force Second Lt. Martin York ’17, SM ’17 will head to Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas to begin training in a Euro-NATO joint program for jet pilots. “NATO has always been important,” said York, an aeronautics and astronautics graduate and <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2016/martin-york-named-us-air-force-cadet-of-the-year-1229" target="_self">the 2016 U.S. Air Force Cadet of the Year</a>. “It’s great that we train with people from different countries, such as the Germans and the Dutch. We build a joint atmosphere so that if we were to fly and fight together, we have a strong starting place and connection.”</p>
<p>For Navy Ensign Natalie Shifflet ’17, the future involves a career as an electrical officer aboard the USS Gonzalez in Norfolk, Virginia. “I don’t know much about what that role is going to entail,” said Shifflet, who received the details of her posting the day before. “But I’m looking forward to new opportunities and working hard.”</p>
<p>For Shifflet, who majored in nuclear science and engineering, the assignment marks the first major separation from her twin sister, Monica Shifflet ’17, who studied materials science and engineering. Monica has been assigned to flight school in Pensacola, Florida. “Just growing up we’ve done the same activities,” said Natalie. “It’s always been where the road has taken us. And now the road is taking us in two different directions.”</p>
<p>The 2017 MIT graduates commissioned into the services include:</p>
<p>Second Lieutenant Kyle Beeks, U.S. Air Force: A graduate of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Physics, Beeks will commission as a developmental engineer. He is taking an educational delay to complete a master of science in electrical engineering at MIT.</p>
<p>Second Lieutenant John Graham, U.S. Air Force: Graduating with both a bachelor's degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a master's from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graham will be a pilot. He will report to Euro/NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.</p>
<p>Ensign Vardaan Gurung, U.S. Navy: A graduate of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Gurung will be a naval reactors engineer reporting to the Navy Yard in Washington.</p>
<p>Second Lieutenant Joseph Han, U.S. Air Force: A graduate of the Department of Biological Engineering, Han will join the medical service corp and begin medical studies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.</p>
<p>Ensign Sean Lowder, U.S. Navy: A graduate of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Lowder will be a naval reactors engineer reporting to the Navy Yard in Washington.</p>
<p>Ensign Colleen McCoy, U.S. Navy: A graduate of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, McCoy will be a naval reactors engineer reporting to the Navy Yard in Washington.</p>
<p>Second Lieutenant Jason Morrison, U.S. Army: A graduate of the Department of Political Science, Morrison will be an ordnance officer serving in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in Fort Hood, Texas.</p>
<p>Second Lieutenant Dayannara Munoz, U.S. Air Force: A graduate of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Munoz will join the 20th Maintenace Group at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina.</p>
<p>Ensign Julia Rubin, U.S. Navy: A graduate of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rubin will be a surface warfare officer on the USS The Sullivans in Mayport, Florida.</p>
<p>Ensign Monica Shifflet, U.S. Navy: A graduate of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shifflet will be a naval flight officer attending Flight School in Pensacola, Florida.</p>
<p>Ensign Natalie Shifflet, U.S. Navy: A graduate of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shifflet will be a surface warfare officer on the USS Gonzalez in Norfolk, Virginia.</p>
<p>Second Lieutenant Martin York, U.S. Air Force: A dual bachelor's and master's graduate in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, York will be a pilot at the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.</p>
Officers surround honorable guest Air Force General Darren W. McDew (at center) and MIT President Rafael L. Reif during the 2017 commissioning ceremony for the MIT’s Reserve Officers Training Corps. More than 12,000 officers have been commissioned from MIT since the program’s origin, and more than 150 have reached the rank of general or admiral.Photo: Lillie Paquette/School of EngineeringROTC, Students, Undergraduate, Graduate, postdoctoral, Alumni/ae, Navy, School of Engineering, School of Science, SHASS, Aeronautical and astronautical engineering, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs), Mechanical engineering, Physics, Biological engineering, Nuclear science and engineering, Political science, Chemical engineering, DMSE, Special events and guest speakers, President L. Rafael Reif, Classes and programs, Commencement, Security studies and militaryMIT students hack assistive technology solutions for local clientshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-students-hack-assistive-technology-solutions-for-local-clients-0612
At the 2017 Assistive Technologies Hackathon hosted at Beaver Works, students created helpful devices for Greater Boston residents with disabilities.Mon, 12 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400Megan Cichon | Lincoln Laboratoryhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-students-hack-assistive-technology-solutions-for-local-clients-0612<p>More than 1 billion people globally need one or more assistive devices, such as prosthetics and communication devices, to address problems resulting from their disabilities. However, currently 90 percent of people in need are without access to those products, according to the World Health Organization. Compounding this accessibility issue is a massive shortage in the assistive technology workforce.</p>
<p>To promote innovation and long-term interest in working in the field of assistive technologies, the Assistive Technologies Hackathon (ATHack), now in its fourth year, is held at Beaver Works in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During the event this spring, MIT students develop technological solutions to problems faced by Greater Boston-area clients with disabilities. Students have one day to create prototype assistive devices to suit client needs.</p>
<p>Two weeks prior to this year's event, 70 students and 17 clients met at an ATHack-sponsored dinner. Clients described their disabilities and what they'd like to achieve with an assistive device. "ATHack presents students with a wide scope of projects. In some cases, building the technology itself is simple. The real challenge lies in understanding what the user needs and designing a technology that suits those needs," says MIT graduate student Jaya Narain, who co-directed the event with fellow students Ishwarya Ananthabhotla and Tally Portnoi. The ATHack coordinators grouped into teams those students with similar skillsets, academic backgrounds, and interests.</p>
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<p>On the day of the hack, each team created a functioning prototype for their client. Students had access to a wide range of resources, including working space, machinery, and building materials, within Beaver Works and technical assistance from several mentors: John Vivilecchia, Kurt Krueger, and Richard Landry of MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Don Fredette of The Boston Home; Michael Buchman of the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering; and Mary Ziegler of the MIT Office of Digital Learning. Clients were also present during the build to give feedback on the functionality of the devices.</p>
<p>"The technologies that the students created were very useful to the ATHack clients," says Vivilecchia. "At the end of the hack, the piles of shavings around the machine tools, the remnants of laser cutter material, and the stacks of 3-D-printed parts scattered throughout Beaver Works were a testament to the hard work and skill of the participants. This was one of the best ATHacks in which I have had the pleasure of participating."</p>
<p>Team Alex built a camera system for their client, an award-winning film director. Alex's cerebral palsy makes controlling his body difficult, with his best control over his knees and feet. The team invented a camera mount that attached to the outer-left frame and armrest of his wheelchair. The mount included a dock for a camera and a small motor. Alex controlled the camera — including changing its height, tilting it 60 degrees up and down, and panning 300 degrees — via four buttons located on the foot rests of the wheelchair. Two buttons tilted the camera up and down, while the other two buttons connect to a display on a phone or tablet mounted to Alex's wheelchair within eyesight. Each tap of the button enabled Alex to scroll through and select several camera settings, including manual focus, aperture size, and shutter speed.</p>
<p>"This experience was amazing because we were able to make our client, Alex, extremely happy. We managed to finish a prototype, and Alex was able to shoot his own movie. He captured footage of our team working on his wheelchair," says Florian Hillen. "It was a gratifying moment for Alex and our team."</p>
<p>Team Dan built a universal remote control for a client who can move only his head. Dan already had a laptop that tracks where his head moves and allows him to "point and click" items displayed on the laptop screen. The team decided to hack a universal remote that communicates via Wi-Fi with a web interface from which Dan could control television power, volume, and channels. The remote was connected to an Internet router so that it had its own IP address and could send and receive messages over the Wi-Fi connection. Dan used his existing "point and click" interface to make selections on his new web interface. When he made a selection, a signal from the laptop to the remote sent a signal to the television.</p>
<p>When the team saw the success of the television remote, they decided to expand the remote's capabilities. They created a mechanical light switch that can be mounted to any switch in Dan's home. The mechanism surrounds a light switch and moves up and down to turn a light on and off. The team added an option to Dan's web interface so that he can control lights. A messaging option added to the interface includes a list of his caretakers, their contact numbers, and six prerecorded messages, such as "I'm in pain" and "I'm hungry." Dan clicks on a person, a message, and the send button, triggering the computer to send the text message to the selected recipient.</p>
<p>"When our team first met Dan, we were shocked to find that he did not have the technology to turn his lights on and off. This problem, and others, is fairly easy to solve, so we became passionate about solving multiple problems to make Dan's life better," says Ishaan Grover. "It was a gratifying experience to talk to Dan, figure out what he needed, and actually deliver solutions."</p>
<p>Once the build time was over, several judges, including the ATHack organizers, David Crandelle and David Binder of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network; John Vivilecchia; Don Fredette; and Mary Ziegler evaluated each team's device. The judges based their decisions on working prototypes, technical usability, and successful student-client communication and translated client needs into a working product. Team Alex earned first place, and Team Dan won second place in the competition.</p>
<p>According to Narain, because of the space limitations of the current Beaver Works facility, AT Hack organizers turned away more than 100 students who were interested in participating. With a new Beaver Works space scheduled to open within the next year, Narain hopes to use both the current and new spaces to accommodate student demand and help a growing number of needy clients.</p>
<p>"As students, we have the skills to make a difference. If 24 hours of your life can significantly make someone else's life better, then everyone should do it," said Grover. "Once you see the reaction from someone that you've helped, you'll understand the value of this program and this career option."</p>
At the 2017 ATHack-a-thon, Team Alex created a wheelchair attachment and web interface that allows Alex to control a video camera with his feet.Photo: Jaya Narain Special events and guest speakers, Assistive technology, STEM education, Beaver works, Lincoln Laboratory, Mechanical engineering, Office of Digital Learning, School of EngineeringTim Cook to MIT grads: “How will you serve humanity?”https://news.mit.edu/2017/commencement-day-0609
Apple CEO urges graduating class to “work toward something greater than yourself.”Fri, 09 Jun 2017 14:30:00 -0400David L. Chandler | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/commencement-day-0609<p>Tim Cook, the renowned CEO of Apple, spoke to MIT’s Class of 2017 on a beautiful sunny morning in the Institute’s Killian Court, urging the graduates to search for a direction and purpose that extends beyond their own lives.</p>
<p>Cook, who took over the reins at Apple after the death of company co-founder Steve Jobs, described his own years-long search for such a purpose, that culminated when he first met Jobs and went to work for the company. “Before that moment,” he said, “I had never met a leader with such passion, or encountered a company with such a clear and compelling purpose — to serve humanity.”</p>
<p>Speaking to the approximately 1,066 undergraduates and 1,818 graduate students receiving their degrees today, Cook said, “When you work toward something greater than yourself, you find meaning, you find purpose. So the question I hope you will carry forward from here is, how will <em>you</em> serve humanity?”</p>
<p>Speaking of the ground-breaking research that continues to emerge from MIT, Cook said, “Thanks to discoveries made right here, billions of people are leading healthier, more productive, more fulfilling lives. And if we are ever going to solve some of the hardest problems still facing the world today — everything from cancer, to climate change, to educational inequality — then technology will help us to do it.”</p>
<p>But, he stressed, that’s not the whole answer: “Technology alone isn’t the solution. Sometimes, it’s even part of the problem.” Describing his meeting last year with Pope Francis, which he described as the most incredible meeting of his life, he recalled the pope’s admonition: “Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely.”</p>
<p>For technology to do great things, he said, “takes all of us. It takes our values, and our commitment to our family, our neighbors, our communities. Our love of beauty and belief that all our fates are interconnected. Our decency. Our kindness.”</p>
<p>"If science is a search in the darkness,” Cook said, "then the humanities are a candle that shows us where we have been and the danger that lies ahead. It is technology married with the liberal arts, married with the humanities, that makes our hearts sing.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>He added that “when you keep people at the center of what you do, it can have enormous impact. … That responsibility is immense, but so is the opportunity. … As you go forward today, use your minds and hands — and hearts — to build something bigger than yourselves.”</p>
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<p>MIT President L. Rafael Reif, in his charge to the students, echoed those sentiments and compared the graduation of this class to one of Apple’s famed product launches: “Today, I am the one presiding over the release of a mind-blowing new product. This product is a limited edition — and it’s extremely personalized. In fact, it comes in more than 2,700 varieties.”</p>
<p>Reif continued, “The operating system for our latest product is amazing! It has unmatched processing ability and built-in memory. I know, because we have tested it and retested it, over and over and over!” And, he added, “I am very proud to tell you that the product we launch today has an unlimited capacity to augment reality to make a better world.”</p>
<p>“I see a planet that urgently needs everything you have to offer,” he said. “So now, go out there. Join the world. Find your calling. Solve the unsolvable. Invent the future. Take the high road. And you will continue to make your family, including your MIT family, proud.”</p>
<p>Arolyn Conwill, president of MIT’s Graduate Student Council, said, “The world is full of enormous challenges — climate change, data security, public health, to name a few. And these challenges are complex. Our ability to solve these problems is determined by both our technological capabilities as well as our ability to implement policies that maximize the impact of our work.”</p>
<p>“For example,” she said, “even the most significant scientific advances in medicine will only be felt by those who have access to health care. Our success depends on our ability to build collaborations across disciplines and to build coalitions that include innovators, policy makers, and diverse members of our global community.” Through a combination of extraordinary talent and luck, she said, MIT’s graduates “are well-positioned to influence their disciplines and influence the world. And it’s up to us to decide how to use that influence.”</p>
<p>Conwill added, “I hope that we not only advance more sustainable ways to use our planet’s resources, but that we also work to shepherd these technologies into the mainstream. … I hope that we not only cure cancer, but that we also work to ensure that all people have access to affordable and comprehensive health care.”</p>
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<p>Liana Ilutzi, president of the Class of 2017, described sage words she had received about responding to adversity: “You can run from it, or face it head on. If MIT has taught us anything, it has taught us that we cannot run from a challenge, or from adversity.” Though many challenges will come, she said, “we are equipped with the tools to handle every single one of them.” And beyond the technological solutions, she said, “when we use empathy, our skill set is beyond powerful.”</p>
<p>She said “we are at our best when we dig deep to go beyond our own emotions, and connect with others. … When adversity confronts you, whether it’s a conflict at work, a family illness, or just a bad day, who will you be? … MIT is all about resiliency, but empathy is its accelerator.” As the graduates go about their lives, she said, “people will lean on us, work with us, and depend on us to change the world, and I know that we are up for the challenge!”</p>
<p>Ilutzi then presented the traditional senior class gift to MIT, which included contributions from 64 percent of the class members, for a total donation of $17,750. She concluded, “Class of 2017, this has been a wild ride, but this is just the beginning!”</p>
Graduates receive their actual diplomas at MIT’s Commencement ceremony.Photo: Jake BelcherCommencement, President L. Rafael Reif, Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni/ae, Community, Special events and guest speakers, Technology and societyPresident L. Rafael Reif&#039;s charge to the Class of 2017https://news.mit.edu/2017/president-rafael-reifs-charge-class-2017-0609
&quot;One of today’s great challenges is how to help society navigate the unintended impact of technology itself,&quot; Reif tells more than 2,800 new graduates.Fri, 09 Jun 2017 12:30:00 -0400MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/president-rafael-reifs-charge-class-2017-0609<p><i>Below is the prepared text of the charge to the graduates by MIT President L. Rafael Reif for the Institute’s <a href="https://commencement.mit.edu/">2017 Commencement</a>, held June 9, 2017.</i></p>
<p>Thank you, Liana! I want to deeply thank the Senior Gift Committee and everyone who contributed to this wonderful gift, to support student activities at MIT.</p>
<p>I also want to recognize the alumni volunteers from the New York metro area, who provided the challenge grant to increase the impact of gifts from this year’s senior class.</p>
<p>Many of those “challengers” are in the audience today so, thank you, thank you, for your leadership and generosity!</p>
<p>#<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
To the graduates of 2017: Congratulations! My job today is to deliver a “charge” to you and I will get to that in a minute. But first, I want to recognize the people who<br />
helped-you-charge this far!</p>
<p>To everyone who came here this morning to celebrate our graduates — welcome to MIT!</p>
<p>OK, for this next acknowledgment, I need your help. Right behind me, over my left shoulder, there’s a camera. In a moment, I’m going to ask all of you to wave to it, all right?</p>
<p>Now I would like to offer a special greeting to all those who were not able to come to campus, but who are watching and cheering-on today’s graduates, online, from locations all over the globe. We are very glad to have you with us, too!</p>
<p>Now, all of you graduates, please cheer and wave!</p>
<p>I think you can do better than that! And remember I still have your diplomas!</p>
<p>One more time – cheer and wave!</p>
<p>And to the parents and families of today’s graduates, a huge “Congratulations” to you, as well! For you, this day is the joyful result of years of loving support and sacrifice. Please accept our deep gratitude and admiration.</p>
<p>#</p>
<p>It is great to have all of you here on Killian Court, on this wonderful day, for this tremendously important occasion.</p>
<p>In fact, this is such a solemn and serious ceremony that I thought you would not mind if we played a little game.</p>
<p>With a big shout-out to graduating senior Lilly Chin, I call this game “MIT Jeopardy 2017!”</p>
<p>So you all know how Jeopardy works. I give the clues, and then you give the answers but in the form of questions. Let me give you a couple of examples, just to practice:</p>
<ul>
<li>If the clue is, “This revolutionary gene-editing system shares its name with a drawer in your refrigerator,” you would say, “What is CRISPR?”</li>
<li>Next clue: “The vibrations from this phenomenon were so gigantic that they could be detected 3 billion light years away,” you would say, “What are the campus-wide dance parties?”</li>
</ul>
<p>OK, you got it? Ready to play?</p>
<p>I expect you to answer the next one, loudly! So, listen closely! Here’s your clue:</p>
<ul>
<li>“This school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, may in fact be the world’s greatest university.”</li>
</ul>
<p>Answer: “What is MIT!”</p>
<ul>
<li>OK, one more: If the clue is, “This field of study is known for enrolling all of the smartest students at MIT,” obviously the answer would be, “Course_____”</li>
</ul>
<p>No, no, no! I’m not going there! Big mistake! Wrong clue!</p>
<p>#</p>
<p>Now, if the clue is, “This brave and brilliant man is the current CEO of Apple” you might be tempted to say, “Who is Tim Cook?”</p>
<p>But without question, the best answer would be “Who is the spiciest memelord?”</p>
<p>#&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;#&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;#</p>
<p>I was very impressed by Tim’s remarks this morning. I expect you were, too. Over the last few years, he has taken bold public positions on key issues on free speech, gay rights, the right to privacy, the need for action on climate change and more.</p>
<p>In doing so, I believe he is setting a tremendous example of what it means to be a citizen and a leader. And I’m deeply grateful to have Tim with us today.</p>
<p>But, when we first invited Tim to speak at Commencement, I tried to talk him into doing something a little different.</p>
<p>I said, ‘Tim, it’s perfect! MIT Commencement is on a Friday! You always release your new phones on a Friday!”</p>
<p>“So how about releasing the iPhone 8?”</p>
<p>Tim did not bite.</p>
<p>But the truth is today; I am the one presiding over the release of a mind-blowing new product.</p>
<p>This product is a limited edition — and it’s extremely personalized. In fact, it comes in more than 2,800 varieties.</p>
<p>And let me tell you, when you line them up together they make an impressive and beautiful display. You do make an impressive and beautiful display!</p>
<p>The operating system for our latest product is amazing! It has unmatched processing ability and built-in memory. I know because we have tested it — over and over and over!</p>
<p>And Tim, I have to point out that our product already has 3-D-sensing facial recognition!</p>
<p>At MIT, we know that our product “can do extraordinary things” that “we never thought possible before today.”</p>
<p>From experience, we know that people are willing to pay a tremendous amount for this product.</p>
<p>And that is really no surprise because I am very proud to tell you that the product we launch today has an unlimited capacity to augment reality to make a better world.</p>
<p>There are rumors that the iPhone 8 may no longer have a “home” button. But those of you who receive your degrees today certainly do right here [pats heart] — and I hope that it always brings you back, right here to your home at MIT.</p>
<p>#&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;#</p>
<p>Now before you get those diplomas allow me to demonstrate your capacity for wireless charging.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that the creativity of this group-of-graduates will be the source of new products, new capabilities, new discoveries, new designs, new organizations — and whole new industries.</p>
<p>We should not be surprised if some of those new concepts are deeply disruptive.</p>
<p>Disrupting old systems and assumptions can be a very good idea. But it can also have a great human cost.</p>
<p>And I believe that, as members of this “institute of technology,” thinking about this human question is very much our business.</p>
<p>It is not something we can leave for “other people” to figure out. And it’s a question where we may need to do more listening than talking for quite a while.</p>
<p>So, I want to leave you with this thought:</p>
<p>At MIT, our mission guides us to advance knowledge to educate students and to bring knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges.</p>
<p>As a result, we are driven and motivated to working on big problems. And we like to solve them, in part, by developing new technologies.</p>
<p>But the truth is that one of today’s great challenges is how to help society navigate the unintended impact of technology itself.</p>
<p>So, as you work together to conjure new ideas to invent new products, to design new ways to manufacture them and devise new ways to use them in the world; I hope you will consider their impact on ALL of society right from the start.</p>
<p>If you can make this assessment not an afterthought but a first concern you will contribute to solving one of the deepest and most difficult challenges of our time.</p>
<p>#&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;#&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;#</p>
<p>During the time you have spent on our campus, the fabric of our society has experienced many serious strains.</p>
<p>So I am very grateful that on this campus, the last few years have also seen a new blossoming of community, and of deliberate efforts to cultivate connection and compassion, and shared progress, with shared joy.</p>
<p>That feeling of connection and unity has a great deal to do with the example and ideas and leadership of those of you who graduate today. And that is what gives me the confidence to deliver my charge to you.</p>
<p>Now, I’m going to use a word that feels very comfortable at MIT although it has taken-on a troubling new meaning elsewhere in the world.</p>
<p>But I know that our graduates will know what I mean.</p>
<p>After you depart for your new destinations, I want to ask you to hack the world — until you make the world a little more like MIT:</p>
<p>More daring and more passionate. More rigorous, inventive and ambitious. More humble, more respectful, more generous, more kind. &nbsp;</p>
<p>This morning, I see more than 2,800 new graduates who are ready for that lifelong problem-set. You made MIT better. And you will make a better world.</p>
<p>You came to MIT with exceptional qualities of your own. And now you leave us, equipped with a rare set of skills, and steeped in this community’s deepest values:</p>
<p>A commitment to excellence. Integrity. Meritocracy. Boldness. Humility. An open spirit of collaboration. A strong desire to make a positive impact. And a sense of responsibility to make the world a better place.</p>
<p>I hope you will take your MIT values with you and I hope you will always take time to listen to the world because that is the secret of making yourselves the finest human beings and the most magnificent “MIT products” that you can be.</p>
<p>Because I also see a planet that urgently needs everything you have to offer.</p>
<p>So now, go out there. Join the world. Find your calling. Solve the unsolvable. Invent the future. Take the high road. And you will continue to make your family, including your MIT family, proud.</p>
<p>On this wonderful day, I am proud of all of you. To every one of the members of the graduating Class of 2017:</p>
<p>Please accept my best wishes for a happy and successful life and career. Congratulations!</p>
President L. Rafael ReifPhoto: Dominick ReuterCommencement, Special events and guest speakers, President L. Rafael Reif, Students, UndergraduateLisa Su urges doctoral graduates to “dream big” and “change the world” https://news.mit.edu/2017/hooding-ceremony-doctoral-lisa-su-0608
At hooding ceremony, Advanced Micro Devices CEO says MIT “taught me how to think.” Thu, 08 Jun 2017 15:00:00 -0400Peter Dizikes | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/hooding-ceremony-doctoral-lisa-su-0608<p>Lisa Su ’90 SM ’91 PhD ’94, the president and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, urged MIT’s new doctoral graduates to “dream big” and “work hard every day to solve the world’s toughest problems,” in her commencement address today at the Institute’s 2017 Investiture of Doctoral Hoods.</p>
<p>The festive, colorful ceremony featured new graduates earning doctoral degrees this academic year, and was held in the Johnson Athletics Center before a large audience of friends and family.</p>
<p>MIT professors, clad in the multihued robes representing the universities from which they received their doctorates (including MIT), draped doctoral hoods over students from 26 departments, programs, and centers at the Institute.</p>
<p>“I encourage each of you to dream big and believe you can change the world, have the courage to take risks and enthusiastically learn from mistakes, and work hard every day to solve the world’s toughest problems,” Su said. “I think if you do that, I’m pretty sure you will make everybody very proud, and you will be incredibly lucky throughout your career.”</p>
<p>In outlining her own experiences in technology and business, which have taken her from the Institute’s laboratories to the executive suite, Su observed that MIT has been a central influence on her own life and career.</p>
<p>“The MIT PhD degree truly shaped who I am in so many ways, both personally and professionally,” Su said.</p>
<p>Su came to the U.S. from Taiwan at age 2 and grew up in New York City. As an undergraduate at MIT, she developed a deep interest in semiconductors; as a graduate student, she received a master’s degree in management and a doctorate focused on research in silicon-on-insulator technology.</p>
<p>Su quipped that when she entered MIT’s doctoral program, at the urging of her parents, she was “too young at the time to know any better.” However, she wound up thriving in a challenging academic environment.</p>
<p>“MIT is pure, and it’s really hard,” Su said. “MIT taught me how to think and solve really hard problems.” &nbsp;</p>
<p>Recalling the many ways her technical education encouraged her to pursue a career in management, Su recounted, “I thought I could make better business decisions because I understood the technology.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>Su began her career at Texas Instruments. She spent 13 years working at IBM, rising to the level of vice president of the Semiconductor Research and Development Center. She then worked in multiple executive roles at Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. She joined Advanced Micro Devices in 2012 as a senior vice president and general manager for global business units, and served as chief operating officer before becoming the CEO.</p>
<p>Su was named one of the Top 50 World’s Greatest Leaders by <em>Fortune</em> in 2017, and has been named a Top Semiconductor CEO by <em>Instiututional Investor</em> in both 2016 and 2017. She was also cited as one of <em>MIT Technology Review</em>’s Top 100 Young Innovators in 2002. She serves on the board of directors for Analog Devices, the Global Semiconductor Alliance, and the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association.</p>
<p>MIT Chancellor and Ford Professor of Engineering Cynthia Barnhart SM ’86 PhD ’88, who annually presides over the hooding ceremony, introduced Su while giving welcoming remarks</p>
<p>Barnhart said she was “thrilled” to have Su addressing the graduates, and offered her own congratulations to the newly minted doctoral graduates.</p>
<p>“Earning a doctoral degree from MIT is no small feat,” Barnhart told the assembled graduates. “You have every reason to be proud, to be relieved, and to be filled with hope for what the future holds.”</p>
<p>2017 marks the third year that MIT’s doctoral hooding ceremony has featured a keynote speaker, who is chosen with input from MIT faculty and doctoral students.</p>
<p>Academic regalia dates to at least the 15th century, but American universities only adopted formal codes for graduation gowns and hoods in 1893.</p>
<p>MIT doctoral degree robes have had their current design since 1995. MIT features a silver-gray robe with a cardinal red velvet front panel, as well cardinal red velvet bars on the sleeves. Additional color markings denote whether graduates have received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or a Doctor of Science (ScD) degree.</p>
<p>The actual doctoral hoods are part of the doctoral robe ensemble. After the remarks by Barnhart and Su, all doctoral graduates had their names announced as they walked across the stage, then individually had the hoods draped on their ensembles by their department or program heads.</p>
Guest speaker Lisa Su ’90 SM ’91 PhD ’94, the president and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, urged MIT’s new doctoral graduates to “dream big” and “work hard every day to solve the world’s toughest problems,” in her address at the Institute’s Investiture of Doctoral Hoods on June 8, 2017.
Photo: Dominick ReuterCommencement, Students, Graduate, postdoctoral, Special events and guest speakers, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Technology and society, Alumni/aeMIT-CHIEF launches Co-founder’s Journeyhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-chief-launches-co-founders-journey-0606
New on-site program will connect MIT startup teams with advanced manufacturing resources in China’s Pearl River Delta area.Tue, 06 Jun 2017 16:30:01 -0400MIT-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forumhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-chief-launches-co-founders-journey-0606<p>The student-run <a href="https://www.mitchief.org/" target="_blank">MIT-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum</a> (MIT-CHIEF) announced its collaboration with the <a href="http://hkinnovationnode.mit.edu/" target="_blank">MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node</a> to launch a new program, Co-founder’s Journey, on May 7. This new program builds upon MIT’s motto, “mens et manus” (“mind and hand”) and aims at providing early-stage startups at MIT with unique opportunities to dive into the innovation ecosystems in Hong Kong and the neighboring Pearl River Delta, especially to access manufacturing resources.</p>
<p>Tech Show, the first milestone of Co-founder’s Journey, was held at the MIT Lobdell Dining Hall on May 7, and joined by MIT-affiliated startups, alumni, and faculty. Fourteen MIT-affiliated startups teams working on hardware prototypes introduced their initial products to over 100 MIT students, faculty, alumni, and investors. This event was not only a technology show, but also a platform for innovators to present their ideas to get feedback on their product designs from potential customers and to find co-founders.</p>
<p>The second milestone of the journey will be in July when MIT-CHIEF will bring 10 startup teams to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China, for week-long, on-site visits to production lines related to the domains of the teams, and hardware incubators for rapid prototyping. Dajiang Suo, co-president of MIT-CHIEF, made the announcement of collaborating with the MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node to launch Co-founder’s Journey.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Tech Show put talented student entrepreneurs in the spotlight. For example, GelSight is an MIT startup that develops novel technology for measuring high-resolution surface topography. Its product is capable of measuring surface features of an object as small as two microns spatially with submicron depth resolution. GelSight has made two prototypes based on this design, a bench configuration and a handheld portable configuration.</p>
<p>“Co-founder’s Journey will bring benefits to startup teams who need to build prototypes rapidly for initial testing in the market. Sometimes, negotiating with hardware suppliers thousands of miles away in Shenzhen, China can be tricky, and establishing a strong partnership with them is critical for scaling up,” said Suo. “You may fail 10 times before succeeding in your venture. But we believe it is the experience you get from this entrepreneurship journey that eventually makes your startup successful.”</p>
<p>MIT faculty who joined Tech Show included Charles Sodini, the Clarence J. LeBel Professor in Electrical Engineering and faculty director for the MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node; Gang Chen, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; and Carl Richard Soderberg, professor of Power Engineering.</p>
<p>Sodini introduced the long history of collaboration between MIT and Hong Kong, starting with MIT’s programs in China. “As I continuously went to Hong Kong back and forth, I realized the importance of taking advantage of the Hong Kong and Shenzhen ecosystem for prototyping and also large-scale manufacturing.” He also mentioned several ongoing activities by the node to bring students from MIT and Hong Kong universities together to go through entrepreneurship processes, making, and scaling-up by introducing them to factories and prototyping facilities. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Chen shared his personal experience of several visits to Hong Kong and Shenzhen and emphasized that Pearl River Delta is an ideal region for student entrepreneurs to learn and explore innovative ideas. He also introduced support for student entrepreneurship by the innovation ecosystem at MIT, especially for those whose products require intensive usage of advanced manufacturing facilities.</p>
<p>Co-founder’s Journey will bring 10 startup teams founded by MIT students or alumni to Hong Kong and Shenzhen July 4-15. The program is subsidized and MIT-CHIEF will reimburse up to $1,500 for each startup team’s round-trip international flight between the U.S. and China. The expense of local accommodation, domestic transportation, and group activities during the travel will also be fully covered.</p>
<p>The detailed program includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>One-day conference (Hong Kong): The inaugural conference in Hong Kong will provide startup teams with exposure to the local innovation ecosystem to explore unique opportunities and expand their network. Startup teams are invited to pitch and showcase their products to an executive audience of investors, startups, and academic professionals, as well as MIT alumni in the region.</li>
<li>Advanced manufacturing facility tour (Shenzhen):<strong> </strong>A critical component of this journey is an in-depth factory tour in Shenzhen. The tour can provide student entrepreneurs with great opportunities of communicating with working staff in production lines, accessing state-of-the-art technologies adopted in advanced manufacturing, gaining better understanding of trade-off between design and manufacturing such as cost and precision, etc. All of these experiences will facilitate the process of rapid prototyping by startup teams.</li>
<li>Workshops with local hardware “hackers”:<strong> </strong>Startup teams will get a chance to interact with hardware “hackers” in Shenzhen. They will learn more about the local innovation systems in the Pearl River Delta and enhance their skills for negotiating with hardware suppliers.</li>
<li>“Light” pitches:<strong> </strong>Startups will also get opportunities to showcase their products and business models to representatives from local government, investors, and universities in Shenzhen. This will help teams better understand the customers, investment environment, policy support for companies who want to set up divisions in the Pearl River Delta, or testing prototype in the local market.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
The student-run MIT-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (MIT-CHIEF) announced a collaboration with the MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node to launch a new program, Co-founder’s Journey.Photo: MIT-CHIEFClubs and activities, Students, China, Startups, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Collaboration, Special events and guest speakers, Innovation InitiativeBreaking through gridlock: Productive conversations in a polarized worldhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/breaking-through-gridlock-productive-conversations-in-a-polarized-world-0605
A Mens et Manus America conversation with Jason Jay reveals research on how to have meaningful conversations with people holding opposing viewpoints.Mon, 05 Jun 2017 17:30:01 -0400School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Scienceshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/breaking-through-gridlock-productive-conversations-in-a-polarized-world-0605<p>The Mens et Manus America initiative at MIT wrapped up its inaugural year with a presentation by Senior Lecturer Jason Jay of the MIT Sloan School of Management, who shared his research on how to have productive conversations with those with diametrically opposing viewpoints — whether in politics or in personal life.<br />
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"We have to have conversations if we are going to affect change," said Jay, who outlined findings from his new book "<a href="https://breakingthroughgridlock.com/" target="_blank">Breaking through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World</a>" (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2017), co-authored with Gabriel Grant. "We change larger conversations by changing one conversation at a time."<br />
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Jay's talk on May 9 was the fourth event held by Mens et Manus America, an ongoing initiative co-sponsored by Sloan and the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences to explore the social, political, and economic challenges currently facing the United States.<br />
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"The intentions for today are to build your courage to have conversations about issues that matter you, to support conversations that lead both to better relationships and to better outcomes that lead to innovation for our times," Jay said.</p>
<p><strong>Productive conversations are crucial for affecting change</strong></p>
<p>A longtime environmentalist and director of Sloan's Sustainability Initiative, Jay said his book is the culmination of six years of research stemming from the challenges he has faced as advocate for sustainability. Frustrated by the experience of finding his impassioned arguments stonewalled in discussions with those he most hoped to persuade, Jay said he began to ask, "How do we turn these conversations around?"<br />
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Jay teamed up with Grant, a social entrepreneur and doctoral candidate at Yale University, and the two conducted more than 2,000 conversation workshops at 15 universities, drawing lessons from what people said. Jay said that in following up with workshop participants, he and Grant gained a lot of anecdotal evidence that "pretty profound shifts were possible if we approached conversations in the right way."<br />
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They found, Jay said, that people very often approach difficult discussions with a negative attitude, which bleeds through even if they keep their words relatively neutral. "It's coming through in my body language, tone, choice of timing. This shapes our interactions with others," he said.<br />
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<strong>Recognize your biases, understand other values, envision achievement</strong><br />
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To illustrate his point, Jay polled the audience electronically during the event and displayed responses on a screen. The polling revealed that many think those on the other side of key feuds in their lives are stupid, ill-informed, or stubborn. "There's a common way of being that we summarize as 'holier than thou,'" he said.<br />
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Jay suggested that the way to make progress in such conversations is by addressing our own biases in advance and approaching people with a more positive mindset.<br />
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He advocated entering into discussions with empathy and listening with the goal of understanding what the other side values. "What are they standing for when they appear to be standing against you?" he said. "If we took that seriously, what might be possible in terms of innovation?"<br />
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For example, Jay said, an environmentalist who was empathetic to the financial fears of someone fighting a sustainability upgrade might look for an innovative solution that is both clean and inexpensive.<br />
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He said that imagining an ideal outcome — both for the discussion and for the relationship — can help people implement this technique. "Visualize that end state where the relationship is where you want it to be and you've achieved what you want to achieve," he said. "What way of being arises for you in actually getting to see things work out OK?" Once you've found that state, try to approach the conversation from there, he advised.<br />
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Jay noted that while he and Grant began their work in the context of sustainability, they have discovered that their technique applies to many kinds of discourse — from the realm of the personal (such as helping a relative fight obesity) to "hot-button political issues."<br />
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"We were surprised at the range of ways in which people get stuck and where a different approach could be powerful," he said.<br />
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<strong>What can we as engaged citizens do?</strong></p>
<p>In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, it is clear that there are major long-term social, political, and economic issues in America that require close attention. In response, members of the MIT community have launched Mens et Manus America, a nonpartisan initiative that is convening a series of research-informed lectures and discussions to explore these issues. The initiative asks: What can MIT do to help address current challenges in the United States and bolster the health of our democracy? How can we use research and rigor to inform our decisions about engagement, both as citizens and as leaders of organizations?</p>
<p>The initiative is sponsored by the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and the MIT Sloan School of Management.</p>
<h5><em>Story prepared by MIT SHASS Communications<br />
Emily Hiestand (director) and Kathryn O'Neill (senior writer)</em></h5>
Image courtesy of Jason Jay.Community, Collaboration, Negotiation, Politics, Policy, Communications, SHASS, Sloan School of Management, Special events and guest speakers, DemocracyNew center will push frontiers of sensing technologyhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/center-push-frontiers-sensing-technology-0601
First “center of excellence” for new MIT.nano facility will focus on novel detectors and imaging systems.Thu, 01 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400David L. Chandler | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/center-push-frontiers-sensing-technology-0601<p>In anticipation of the official opening of the new MIT.nano building — which will house some of the world’s leading facilities supporting research in nanoscience and nanotechnology — MIT last week officially launched a new “center of excellence” called SENSE.nano, which is dedicated to pushing the frontiers of research in sensing technologies.</p>
<p>Like the new building, which is slated to open a year from now, SENSE.nano is an endeavor that cuts across the divisions of departments, labs, and schools, to encompass research in areas including chemistry, physics, materials science, electronics, computer science, biology, mechanical engineering, and more. Faculty members from many of these areas spoke about their research during a daylong conference on May 25 that marked the official launch of the new center.</p>
<p>Introducing the event, MIT President L. Rafael Reif said that “[MIT.nano] will create opportunities for research and collaboration for more than half our current faculty, and 67 percent of those recently tenured. In fact, we expect that it will serve — and serve to inspire – more than 2,000 people across our campus, from all five MIT schools, and many more from beyond our walls.”</p>
<p>Explaining the impetus for creating this new center, Reif said that MIT is “famous for making — because we have a community of makers — a concentration of brilliant people who are excited to share their experience and their ideas, to teach you to use their tools and to learn what you know, too. On a much bigger scale, this is the same magic we hope for in creating SENSE.nano. As MIT.nano’s first ‘center of excellence,’ SENSE.nano will bring together a wide array of researchers, inventors, and entrepreneurs fascinated by the potential of sensors and sensing systems to transform our world.”</p>
<p>The development of new kinds of connected, inexpensive, and widespread sensing devices, harnessing the power of nanoscale imaging and manufacturing systems, could impact many of the world’s most pressing problems, said Vincent Roche, president of Analog Devices, who gave the opening keynote talk. Such new technology “has the potential to solve problems that have plagued humanity for millennia, including food and water security, health care, and environmental degradation.”</p>
<p>The 200,000-square-foot facility, in addition to more than doubling the amount of clean-room imaging and fabrication space available to MIT researchers, also contains “one of the quietest spaces on the eastern seaboard,” said Brian Anthony, co-leader of the new center of excellence and a principal researcher in the mechanical engineering department, referring to an exceptionally vibration-free environment created on the new building’s basement level, where the most sensitive of instruments, that require a perfectly stable base, will be housed.</p>
<p>To show by example what some of that cross-disciplinary work will look like, several faculty members described the research they are doing now and explained how its scope and capabilities will be greatly enhanced by the new imaging and fabrication tools that will become available when MIT.nano officially opens for research.</p>
<p>Tim Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry, described ongoing work that he and his students have been doing on developing tiny, low-cost sensors that can be incorporated in the packaging of fruits and vegetables. The sensors could detect the buildup of gases that could lead to premature ripening or rotting, as a way to reduce the amount of food wasted during transportation and storage. Polina Anikeeva, the Class of 1942 Career Development Associate Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, talked about developing flexible, stretchable fibers for implantation in brain and spinal cord tissues, which could ultimately lead to ways of restoring motion to those with spinal cord injuries.</p>
<p>Others described large-area sensing systems that could incorporate computation and logic so that only the most relevant data would need to be transmitted, helping to curb a data overload; and sensors built from nanotubes that could be bent, twisted, or stretched while still gathering data. Still others described ways of integrating electronics with photonic devices, which use light instead of electrons to carry and manipulate data. Also presented was work on using fluorescing quantum-dot particles to provide imaging of living tissues without the need for incisions, and building sensors that can continuously monitor buildings, bridges, and other structures to detect signs of likely failure long before disaster strikes.</p>
<p>“The future will be measured in nanometers,” said MIT Professor Vladimir Bulovic, in a panel discussion at the end of the conference, moderated by Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR’s “On Point.” Bulovic, who is the faculty lead for the MIT.nano building and the Fariborz Maseeh Chair in Emerging Technology, added, “We are right now at the renaissance age of nano.” He noted that devices all around us — and in our pockets — are constantly sensing, recording, and sometimes transmitting data about our surroundings.</p>
<p>“We can access data on how the world around us really functions, and with that data, we can take the next step of influencing the environment” to improve our health, protect our natural environment, and monitor our buildings, structures, and devices to make sure they are working as they should, he said. “The opportunity is vast.”</p>
<p>In his introduction, Reif also hailed the potential of what’s sometimes called “ubiquitous sensing”: “Tomorrow’s optical, mechanical, electrical, chemical, and biological sensors, alone and networked together, offer a huge range of new possibilities in terms of understanding and controlling the world around us. Sensors will change how we protect our soldiers and keep our bridges safe. How we monitor the polar ice caps, and monitor how children learn. Sensors will change how we keep our water clean, our patients healthy, and our energy supply secure. … In short, sensors and sensing systems will be the source of new products, new capabilities — and whole new industries. And we should not be surprised if some of them are deeply disruptive.”</p>
<p>Disruption, of course, can be a two-edged sword. So, Reif said, one of the challenges facing those who innovate in this field, “as technology races to the future, is how to help society navigate its unintended impacts. … If we can make this a first concern, and not an afterthought, I have no doubt that this community will continue to be a major force in making a better world.”</p>
A panel discussion on the future of sensing technologies, moderated remotely by NPR talk show host Tom Ashbrook (not seen here), featured (from left to right) MIT Professor Vladimir Bulovic, The Engine President and CEO Katie Ray, MIT Professor David Mindell, Massachusetts Assistant Secretary of Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Katie Stebbins, and MIT Professor James Collins.
Photo: Michael D. SpencerMIT.nano, Sensors, Research, Campus buildings and architecture, Facilities, Nanoscience and nanotechnology, Special events and guest speakers, School of Engineering, School of Science, President L. Rafael ReifLIDS Smart Urban Infrastructures Workshop highlights emerging researchhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-lids-smart-urban-infrastructures-workshop-highlights-emerging-research-0531
Speakers from academia, industry, and government discuss the evolution of smart urban systems.Wed, 31 May 2017 17:35:01 -0400Stefanie Koperniak | Institute for Data, Systems, and Societyhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-lids-smart-urban-infrastructures-workshop-highlights-emerging-research-0531<p>Data can reveal valuable insights about the ways humans interact with their urban surroundings, helping to determine the types of services and systems they need&nbsp;and how those services and systems should work.&nbsp;Transportation, the electric power grid, and other&nbsp;services people rely upon&nbsp;can become more automated and more responsive — and&nbsp;ultimately&nbsp;smarter — through data science approaches.</p>
<p><br />
Those ideas were at the center of the <a href="https://lidssmart2017.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Smart Urban Infrastructures Workshop</a>, which was held May 11-12 at the Media Lab. The event was&nbsp;hosted by the <a href="http://lids.mit.edu" target="_blank">Laboratory for Information and Decisions Systems (LIDS)</a>, which is both the longest-running research laboratory at MIT and the major research lab of the <a href="https://idss.mit.edu" target="_blank">MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society</a>&nbsp;(IDSS).&nbsp;<br />
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“Thanks to advances in technology, we see more and more smart services,” said Asuman Ozdaglar, the Joseph F. and Nancy P. Keithley Professor in Electrical Engineering and head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “These smart services take many forms and include increasingly more platforms for sharing resources.”<br />
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The conference was organized around six central themes related to smart services: security and privacy;&nbsp;smart cities and communities;&nbsp;communications and the internet of things;&nbsp;transportation services and platforms;&nbsp;autonomous transportation; and smart grid and energy services. The first day included a <a href="https://lidssmart2017.mit.edu/poster-session/" target="_blank">student poster session</a>, while the second day featured&nbsp;a keynote talk from GE Digital Vice President Peter Marx, who also drew from some of his past experiences in the public sector as chief technology officer for the City of&nbsp;Los Angeles.<br />
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Speakers on the&nbsp;Security and Privacy in Smart Services panel shared a variety of perspectives on current privacy challenges. Daniel Weitzner, founding director of the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative and principal research scientist at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), discussed the need to understand the significance and meaning of privacy in people’s lives in order to create effective policies. He explored&nbsp;the complexity that emerges when people&nbsp;try&nbsp;to define exactly what privacy is in terms of how people perceive and value it.</p>
<p>“It’s tempting to have a single, formal definition of ‘privacy,” he said, “but we can’t do that. Privacy means different things to different people.”<br />
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Lalitha Sankar, assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer&nbsp;and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University, addressed privacy and security in the context of power systems — including looking at the importance of cybersecurity in maintaining the operations of smart cities. She cited&nbsp;the example of a major cyber attack that disabled a third of the Ukrainian power grid to illustrate a case in which “the control was bypassed from the human in the loop,” and where the cyber system itself was unable to identify the problem.<br />
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During the panel session on Smart Cities and Communities, Mark Gorenberg, the founder and managing director of Zetta Partners, talked about strategies for making communities more energy-efficient and more connected by using data related to local preferences and needs. Fellow panelist&nbsp;Glenn Ricart of US Ignite emphasized the importance of “civic partnerships,” including work with volunteers and universities.<br />
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Amy Glasmeier, professor in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, focused on the ongoing challenge of providing more access to smart services for wider segments of the population.<br />
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“How do we change and broaden the demographics [of people using smart systems]?” Glasmeier asked. In designing smart systems, she said&nbsp;the key question needs to be: “What is the problem we are trying to solve, and for whom?”<br />
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In the panel on Communications and the Internet of Things in Smart Cities, Veniam CEO and founder João Barros&nbsp;discussed some communications applications that can improve cities, such as having vehicles share software updates.<br />
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“Many applications allow you to reduce traffic if vehicles can communicate with each other,” he said.<br />
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Iyad Rahwan, a professor at the Media Lab and IDSS affiliate faculty member, presented some of his research on the complex ethical dilemmas of autonomous vehicles. Human drivers make quick, intuitive, and often high-stakes decisions to assess relative risk and act accordingly. Although efforts toward building these capabilities in cars are well underway, designing such complex systems presents great challenges, he said.<br />
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The Smart Grid and Energy Services panel also highlighted the human component of smart systems. Marija Ilic, an IDSS&nbsp;visiting professor, talked about the need to think about power grids as “data-enabled, socio-ecological systems.” Ilic and other panelists discussed the importance of making it easy for consumers to participate in decisions about energy usage — particularly by using data to identify certain tasks and decisions and then automate them.</p>
The MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems hosted the Smart Urban Infrastructures Workshop on May 11-12, 2017 at the MIT Media Lab.Photo: Dawn Colquitt-Anderson/IDSSIDSS, Autonomous vehicles, Data, Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), Privacy, Special events and guest speakers, Systems design, Urban studies and planning, School of Architecture and Planning, School of EngineeringSustainability Connect 2017 brings MIT together to balance needs of the present and futurehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/sustainability-connect-brings-mit-together-to-balance-present-future-needs-0526
Third annual conference explores innovation, social justice, and the Institute as a living lab for sustainability. Fri, 26 May 2017 13:20:01 -0400Frankie Schembri | Office of Sustainabilityhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/sustainability-connect-brings-mit-together-to-balance-present-future-needs-0526<p>MIT faculty, staff, and students came together to celebrate the progress of the Institute’s campus sustainability efforts&nbsp;and to put their heads together to brainstorm ways MIT's&nbsp;unique culture of innovation can&nbsp;be further leveraged to test new&nbsp;ideas.</p>
<p>The diverse group gathered on May 8 for&nbsp;Sustainability Connect 2017, the third iteration of the annual conference sponsored by MIT’s&nbsp;Office of Sustainability (MITOS).</p>
<p>Over the past several years, MIT has&nbsp;used its power both as a research institution and living lab to tackle the issue of global climate change. In October 2015, MIT released a five-year <a href="http://climateaction.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Plan for Action on Climate Change</a>, setting goals like reducing campus emissions by at least 32 percent by 2030. In November 2015, the MIT Campus Sustainability Working Groups released their collective&nbsp;<a href="http://sustainability.mit.edu/sustainability-working-group-recommendations-2015" target="_blank">recommendations</a> for advancing sustainable design and construction, materials management, and green labs across campus.</p>
<p>“Two years ago, when we launched this event, we challenged ourselves to determine how MIT can be a game-changing force for sustainability in the 21st century,”&nbsp;MITOS director Julie Newman said in her opening remarks. “And I’m pleased to report that in this short period of time we’re at a place where we can point to the transformative efforts that MIT has made.”</p>
<p>It has been a busy year for sustainability at MIT. Newman noted several recent developments including <a href="http://mit.edu/facilities/transportation/accessmit/index.html" target="_blank">Access MIT</a>, a commuter benefits program for employees to encourage the use of public transportation;&nbsp;<a href="http://web.mit.edu/facilities/environmental/solar-ppa.html" target="_blank">Summit Farms</a>, MIT’s landmark solar energy power-purchase agreement with area partners; and the launch of <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/campus-energy-data-dashboard-0508" target="_blank">Energize MIT</a>, a digital platform through which MIT faculty, students, and staff can access data about campus energy use.</p>
<p>Deputy Executive Vice President Tony Sharon&nbsp;invited the audience to see new opportunities arising from the work already being done in sustainability and to maintain the momentum.</p>
<p>“We can reinvent the ways we build our buildings and shape our open spaces, rethink the ways we provide energy to the campus, and with the new data analytics in place, we have many opportunities for analysis, critique, and learning,” Sharon said.</p>
<p>Seeking new opportunities was a major focus&nbsp;of Sustainability Connect 2017.&nbsp;It was reflected in the conference’s theme: “Cultivating the Test Bed: Harvesting a Better Future for All,” and through the day’s agenda of panels, presentations, and brainstorming sessions. Opportunities for innovative thinking explored&nbsp;incorporating social justice in future solutions, new intersections of&nbsp;innovation and campus sustainability, and new venues&nbsp;for faculty, students, and staff to use the campus as a living lab.</p>
<p>Keynote speaker Julian Agyeman, a professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, challenged the audience to incorporate social dimensions into their sustainability projects.</p>
<p>“It is very difficult to retrofit systems with equity and social justice once they are in place,” Agyeman said. “We need to think about these dimensions from the outset.”</p>
<p>Agyeman highlighted the unique opportunity of the MIT community to bring sustainable&nbsp;solutions to bear on cities with diverse populations like Boston and Cambridge, and called on the audience to prioritize both social justice and sustainability in their work.</p>
<p>The morning sessions served as a conversation forum for students, staff, and faculty directly involved with the task forces, committees, working groups, and research on sustainability at MIT. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The opening panel —&nbsp;“Exploring the Intersections between Innovation and Campus Sustainability at MIT” — touched on Institute’s history of innovation and&nbsp;current steps being taken by the administration to use this foundation for the next generation of sustainability projects.</p>
<p>Panelist Jim May, a senior project manager in MIT Campus Planning, explained how MIT’s architecture and campus spaces have always been ahead of their time and have served as a blueprint for university campuses around the world.</p>
<p>“We know that our research, science, and innovation are reflected in our architecture, and that our campus embodies what it is we want to do,” May said.</p>
<p>He said MIT has been rehearsing for the next paradigm shift in sustainable buildings, and is ready to again&nbsp;lead university campuses in taking the next steps.</p>
<p>Following the panel, participants conducted&nbsp;a workshop to explore what kinds of sustainability goals MIT might set in the future, on topics ranging from resilient buildings to smarter food systems.</p>
<p>“We are looking forward to working with campus leaders and the MIT community in the coming years to frame and define what goals will enable MIT to be a leader and exemplar of campus sustainability,” Newman said.</p>
<p>MITOS opened the afternoon sessions of Sustainability Connect to the greater MIT community this year, inviting students, staff and faculty from across departments to join the conversation on transforming the campus into a test bed and living lab for sustainability.</p>
<p>“This is the ‘muddy boots’ portion of the day,” said Joe Higgins, director of infrastructure business operations in the Department of Facilities.</p>
<p>Higgins moderated the afternoon panel:&nbsp;“Cultivating the Test Bed: Constructing the Campus Lab,” which featured the work of four researchers testing out sustainability solutions on campus.</p>
<p>“We’ve got a lot of ladder-climbers, hands-on wrench-turners, chemical-mixing folks here,” Higgins said “And the campus as test bed is a linking of these researchers with the operations staff at MIT.”</p>
<p>Panelists included Rachel Perlman, a PhD student in Institute for Data, Systems, and Society and MITOS Fellow who spoke about&nbsp;MIT’s material flow, and&nbsp;Kripa Varanasi, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who discussed&nbsp;water savings in cooling towers located at MIT’s Central Utilities Plant. Other panelists were&nbsp;Marius Peters, a research scientist in the MIT Photovoltaics Research Lab who spoke about&nbsp;testing solar cells on campus,&nbsp;and Pamela Greenley, an associate director of MIT’s Office of Environment, Health and Safety who explored efforts to develop&nbsp;a green certification process for campus labs.</p>
<p>The day’s final ideation workshop was&nbsp;facilitated by MITOS staff and Amanda Graham of the <a href="https://environmentalsolutions.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Environmental Solutions Initiative</a>.&nbsp;Audience members worked together in small groups to match campus-based questions with opportunities for partnerships, experiential learning and new research.</p>
<p>“We know that every person who works, visits or studies at MIT, regardless of their role, might have a big idea to improve the sustainability of the campus,” said Paul J. Wolff III, living lab design and strategic engagement project manager at MITOS. “We want to capture these ideas – and where possible, connect them with the right partners, infuse them with robust research and test them right here on the MIT campus in an effort to maximize the outcomes.”</p>
<p>The interactive activities illustrated what makes living-lab-style&nbsp;sustainability&nbsp;research unique at MIT. They also&nbsp;provided participants with a roadmap for cultivating&nbsp;new ideas and strategic collaborations moving forward.</p>
Participants at Sustainability Connect 2017 engaged in a workshop to explore what kinds of sustainability goals MIT might set in the future, on topics ranging from resilient buildings to food systems.Photo: Ken Richardson PhotographySustainability, Special events and guest speakers, Climate change, Energy, Global Warming, Facilities, Emissions, Collaboration, Campus buildings and architecture, Cambridge, Boston and region, Alternative energy, ESIEnvisioning the future of metal and mineral productionhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/envisioning-the-future-of-metal-and-mineral-production-0524
MIT researchers team up with leaders from the metals and minerals industry to envision a more sustainable future.Wed, 24 May 2017 12:25:01 -0400Suzanne Greene | Department of Materials Science and Engineeringhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/envisioning-the-future-of-metal-and-mineral-production-0524<p>Metals and minerals form the base of our society, with diverse applications infiltrating all corners of our lives, including agriculture, infrastructure, transportation and information technology. As populations grow, and demand for metals and minerals rises, enhancing the sustainability of the sector is a goal for many companies, communities and policymakers.</p>
<p>To contribute to this, on May 11-12, MIT launched the <a href="http://metalsandminerals.mit.edu" target="_blank">Metals and Minerals for the Environment</a> (MME) initiative with its first public symposium. MIT has long been home to research on myriad aspects of metals and minerals, and the MME Symposium serves to crystallize these efforts around the unique environmental and social challenges the sector faces.</p>
<p>Funded by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, with additional support from the Industrial Liaison Program, the MME Symposium hosted industry professionals involved in sustainability, engineering, R&amp;D, and other related topics. The event featured presentations from MIT faculty and industry experts, as well a glimpse into current research with a tour of MIT laboratories and a student-led poster session.</p>
<p>MME’s principal investigator, MIT assistant professor of metallurgy&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://dmse.mit.edu/faculty/profile/allanore" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Antoine Allanore</a>, introduced his research around metal extraction by electrolysis, which shows great promise for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing productivity. Co-principal investigator&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://cheme.mit.edu/profile/t-alan-hatton/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">T. Alan Hatton</a>, the Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering, explained his innovations in carbon capture and waste separations, providing another angle for decreasing the industry’s environmental impacts.</p>
<p>Other speakers suggested additional angles for achieving sustainability goals, such as Maurice F. Strong Career Development Professor&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="http://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-directory/detail/?id=51409" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matthew Amengual</a>’s work on the impact of mining on local communities, and professor of biological engineering&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://be.mit.edu/directory/bevin-p-engelward" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bevin P. Engelward</a>’s research on the health impacts of metals. Assistant professor of materials science and engineering&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://dmse.mit.edu/faculty/profile/olivetti" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elsa A. Olivetti</a>&nbsp;discussed the potential for higher use of recycled materials and waste byproducts, while John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Chemistry&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://dmse.mit.edu/faculty/profile/sadoway" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donald R. Sadoway</a>&nbsp;showed the future of renewable energy battery storage, highly relevant for the remote locations of many mines. Vice President for Open Learning&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://odl.mit.edu/about/our-team/sanjay-sarma" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sanjay Sarma</a>&nbsp;closed out the symposium, providing a vision of how the internet of things can be applied within the metals and minerals sector to monitor safety and increase efficiency.</p>
<p>“This Symposium provided a unique opportunity for MIT researchers to hear directly from the industry what their concerns are, where technologies might be deployed, and what is preventing industry from adopting some sustainability upgrades,” MME program manager Suzanne Greene says.</p>
<p>Allanore hopes that the event will culminate in a raised awareness of work at MIT that could be of immediate use to the industry, and of larger innovations under development that could serve as disruptive technologies to modernize the industry.</p>
<div></div>
Participants in the Metals and Minerals for the Environment initiative’s first public symposium on May 11 and 12 at MIT gathered for a group shot outside Fariborz Maseeh Hall. Photo: Davide CiceriMetals, Environment, Special events and guest speakers, Sustainability, Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Chemical engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, DMSE, School of Engineering, Materials Processing CenterThe future of sensory technologyhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/future-of-sensory-technology-mit-nano-0522
MIT.nano hosts its first major research symposium.Mon, 22 May 2017 17:10:01 -0400Meg Murphy | School of Engineeringhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/future-of-sensory-technology-mit-nano-0522<p>We are entering the age of ubiquitous sensing. Smart sensors will soon track our health and wellness, enable autonomous cars, and monitor machines, buildings, and bridges. Massive networks of small, inexpensive sensors will enable large-scale global data collection — impacting the distribution of agriculture and water, environmental monitoring, disaster recovery, disease-outbreak detection and intervention, and the operation of cities. With this change in mind, MIT is creating a singular hub to unite experts as they develop a new generation of sensors, and sensing and measurement technologies.</p>
<p>On May 25-26, SENSE.nano will debut, marking the first “center of excellence” powered by MIT.nano, the 214,000 square-foot research facility taking shape in the heart of MIT campus. The center will empower people in the MIT community, engage industry leaders, and educate the public.</p>
<p>“There is a thing we do extremely well at MIT: We lock arms and make progress that is beyond the scope of any one researcher,” says Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor in the Department of Chemistry.</p>
<p>“If you look at what’s happening with sensors, you’ll see that many different disciplines have to come together. Ubiquitous sensing has so many aspects — chemical, biological, physical, radiological,” he says. “With all this sensing research going on, we need a place to coordinate our synergies.”</p>
<p>As part of the kickoff, a full-day symposium will feature experts discussing technical challenges, commercial and humanitarian needs, and the societal impact of ubiquitous sensor and sensing systems. In a nod to the everyday impact of this technology, NPR journalist Tom Ashbrook will lead a broad discussion on “Sensing, Society, and Technology.”</p>
<p>“Novel sensors and sensing systems will provide previously unimaginable insight into the condition of individuals and the built and natural worlds, positively impacting people, machines, and the environment,” says Brian W. Anthony, a principal research engineer at MIT and director of the Advanced Manufacturing and Design program, who is coleading the new center.</p>
<p>SENSE.nano will support collaboration between people from a range of specialty areas — engineering, business, Earth science, electronics, computation, nanoscience, materials science, neuroscience, chemistry, physics, computer science, biology, and advanced manufacturing.</p>
<p>“We want to use this event as an opportunity to strengthen the community and improve our connection to the local innovation and manufacturing ecosystem,” adds Anthony. “And to accelerate the rate at which our new sensing technologies and innovations are scaled-up and go out and impact the IoT enabled industries, advanced instrumentation, and beyond.”</p>
<p>Vince Roche, CEO of Analog Devices, and Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande, founder of the Deshpande Foundation, will offer morning and afternoon keynotes. Framing the broad impact and opportunity of sensing technologies to the U.S. economy and the world’s societal needs. Analog Devices, a semiconductor company cofounded by Raymond S. Stata, is a cornerstone company in sensor products and advanced manufacturing in Massachusetts.</p>
<p>“It is time for people to reach out and find the best ways to collaborate,” he says. “We’re looking for input from the community, sensor and sensing system manufacturers, government, academe, and researchers to help us define the grand challenge focus areas within SENSE.nano.”</p>
Artist rendering depicts MIT.nano, the 214,000 square-foot nanoscience and nanotechnology research facility taking shape in the heart of MIT campus.Image: Tim BlackburnMIT.nano, Nanoscience and nanotechnology, School of Engineering, School of Science, Special events and guest speakersMens et Manus America examines the politics of misinformationhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mens-et-manus-america-examines-politics-of-misinformation-0522
Adam Berinsky and Ezra Zuckerman Sivan present research on rumors and falsehoods in U.S. politics.
Mon, 22 May 2017 11:45:01 -0400School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Scienceshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mens-et-manus-america-examines-politics-of-misinformation-0522<p>Misinformation and its role in politics took center stage at the third event hosted by Mens et Manus America, an MIT initiative focused on exploring the social, political, and economic challenges currently facing the United States.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Adam J. Berinsky, professor of poltical science, joined Ezra Zuckerman Sivan, the Siteman Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship,<em> </em>to share political science and sociological research about the impact of rumors, lies, and fake news on America's political process. Agustín Rayo, associate dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, moderated the lunchtime talk, which drew a full house to Room E51-345 on May 1.</p>
<p><strong>Technology accelerates the spread of false information</strong></p>
<p>"Rumors are not new. What's new is how really widely they can spread," said Berinsky, whose research focuses on how false information propagates and what can be done to combat rumors. "Technology has changed, and so the spread has changed," he said, noting that fake news sites, tweets, blog posts, and more keep rumors circulating ad infinitum.</p>
<p>Berinsky said his work shows that reasonable people from both parties often come to believe bizarre stories about politicians and the political system. And even very wild rumors can be extremely difficult to dislodge from the public consciousness. "It's not that some people believe a lot of crazy things." Rather, he said, "There are a lot of people who believe some crazy things."</p>
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<p><strong>To counter lies: Don't repeat them, even to refute them</strong></p>
<p>A vulnerability to rumors occurs regardless of political philosophy, and is basically a product of human nature, according to Berinsky. "A lot of work in psychology shows that rumors are sticky," he said.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, as tempting as it is to try to combat lies with truth, Berinsky said that this strategy can backfire. "People tend to forget which is myth and which is reality; they just remember that they heard this," he said. "Corrections do work, but they fade very quickly."</p>
<p>While Berinsky characterized his own findings as "depressing," he did suggest two ways to confront the flood of misinformation. First, he said, don't repeat lies even to refute them. Second, find and share credible sources of information.</p>
<p><strong>Who can referee the flow of information?</strong></p>
<p>Berinsky stressed that finding credible sources can be challenging, particularly as sources once viewed as independent have increasingly been labeled as partisan by one side or the other. "People are looking for a referee but we're playing street basketball," Berinsky said. The best sources, he said, are not neutral but rather those who are essentially speaking against their own self-interests: For example, party leaders rejecting a party claim.</p>
<p>Rayo later suggested that as society becomes more polarized such people may be increasingly hard to find, which exacerbates the challenge of finding credible sources.</p>
<p><strong>Why do lies and demagoguery appeal to some voters?</strong></p>
<p>Surprisingly, it turns out that even knowing for certain that a politician has been lying may not impair his or her popularity, according to Zuckerman, who followed Berinsky's talk with a presentation on research he and colleagues conducted into "the authentic appeal of the lying demagogue."</p>
<p>Zuckerman said, "We need our politicians to be authentic if we are to trust them." So, how can a candidate who is obviously lying — about facts that are commonly known — nevertheless seem authentic?</p>
<p>Zuckerman, a sociologist who is also the deputy dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management, said he and colleagues explored this question via a post-election survey as well as a series of experiments conducted outside the context of last year's election. In the simulated college elections they created, they found that a known liar seems more authentic than a truth teller if people think their social group is being unfairly treated by the political establishment.</p>
<p>"When subjects as are made to believe they are part of a group being treated unfairly, they tend to prefer the lying demagogue more than the other guy," Zuckerman said.</p>
<p>The bottom line, Zuckerman said, is: "We may recognize that the lying demagogue is not telling the truth, but we appreciate his willingness to challenge the establishment that we hate."</p>
<p><strong>Finding common ground?</strong></p>
<p>Berinsky and Zuckerman's research presentations were followed by a short question-and-answer session in which the presenters discussed such topics as whether the tendency to believe conspiracy theories is really hard-wired, as Berinsky argued, or a symptom of structural divisions, as Zuckerman submitted.</p>
<p>"I'm hopeful for world in which we break through some of what structurally divides us," Zuckerman said.</p>
<p>Berinsky was less sanguine, but suggested that the depth of the divisions revealed in the past election have been somewhat overblown. "Most people most of the time don't care very much about politics," he said. He suggested that the media tends to highlight views at the extremes of the spectrum, implying that the middle is likely larger than it appears. "There's a window to reach people," he said.</p>
<p><strong>What can we as engaged citizens do?</strong></p>
<p>In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, it is clear that there are major long-term social, political, and economic issues in America that require close attention. In response, members of the MIT community launched Mens et Manus America, a nonpartisan initiative that is convening a series of research-informed lectures and discussions to explore these issues. The initiative asks: What can MIT do to help address current challenges in the United States, and bolster the health of our democracy? How can we use research and rigor to inform our decisions about engagement, both as citizens and as leaders of organizations?</p>
<p>The initiative is sponsored by the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and the MIT Sloan School of Management.</p>
<h5><br />
<em>Story prepared by MIT SHASS Communications<br />
Editorial team: Kathryn O'Neill (senior writer) and Emily Hiestand (director, editor)</em><br />
&nbsp;</h5>
At a recent MIT Mens et Manus America event, scholars presented political science and sociological research about the impact of rumors, falsehoods, and misinformation on America's political process. Image: SHASS CommunicationsSpecial events and guest speakers, Democracy, Government, Sociology, Voting and elections, Faculty, SHASS, Sloan School of ManagementMIT $100K winner’s optical chips perform AI computations at light speedhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-100k-optical-chips-ai-computations-light-speed-0518
A flushless toilet that shrinks waste and a device that detects leaky pipes also won top prizes.Thu, 18 May 2017 15:30:00 -0400Rob Matheson | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-100k-optical-chips-ai-computations-light-speed-0518<p>The big winner at this year’s MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition aims to drastically accelerate artificial-intelligence computations — to light speed.</p>
<p>Devices such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, as well as self-driving cars, all rely on artificial intelligence algorithms. But the chips powering these innovations, which use electrical signals to do computations, could be much faster and more efficient.</p>
<p>That’s according to MIT team <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/lightmatter">Lightmatter</a>, which took home the $100,000 Robert P. Goldberg grand prize from last night’s competition for developing fully optical chips that compute using light, meaning they work many times faster — using much less energy — than traditional electronics-based chips. These new chips could be used to power faster, more efficient, and more advanced artificial-intelligence devices.</p>
<p>“Artificial intelligence has affected or will affect all industries,” said Nick Harris, an MIT PhD student, during the team’s winning pitch to a capacity crowd in the Kresge Auditorium. “We’re bringing the next step of artificial intelligence to light.”</p>
<p>Two other winners took home cash prizes from the annual competition, now in its 28th year. Winning a $5,000 Audience Choice award was <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/changewater-labs">change:WATER Labs</a>, a team of MIT researchers and others making toilets that can condense waste into smaller bulk for easier transport in areas where people live without indoor plumbing. <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/pipeguard">PipeGuard</a>, an MIT team developing a sensor that can be sent through water pipes to detect leaks, won a $10,000 Booz Allen Hamilton data prize.</p>
<p>The competition is run by MIT students and supported by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and the MIT Sloan School of Management.</p>
<p><strong>Computing at light speed</strong></p>
<p>Founded out of MIT, Lightmatter has developed a new optical chip architecture that could in principle speed up artificial-intelligence computations by orders of magnitude.</p>
<p>In artificial intelligence, traditional chips rely on electrical signals that conduct millions of calculations using transistors (switches) to simulate a neural network that can produce an output. Lightmatter’s chip uses a completely different architecture that is more similar to the architecture of a real biological neural network. In addition, it uses light, instead of electrons, as a medium to carry the information during computing.</p>
<p>The team has already built a prototype to carry out some simple speech recognition tasks.</p>
<p>The chips could be used by companies to develop faster and more sophisticated artificial-intelligence models. Consumers could see, for instance, smarter models of Alexa or Siri, or autonomous cars that compute faster, using less energy.</p>
<p>With the prize money, the team will travel to meet with potential customers, rent its first office space, and visit manufacturers. The competition also helped the team develop a detailed business plan, Harris told <em>MIT News</em>. “Our business plan was passed around to quite a number of judges before we were even vetted to get in here,” he said. “We were able to iterate on our understanding of how this thing is going to work, who we’re going to sell it to, how much money we’re going to make, and all the details of a business. Before this, we weren’t really there.”</p>
<p><strong>Detecting leaks, shrinking waste</strong></p>
<p>In PipeGuard’s pitch, Jonathan Miller, an integrated design and management student, and You Wu, a mechanical engineering PhD student, showcased Robot Daisy, a palm-sized bot wearing a sensor “skirt.” A worker puts the device into one end of a water pipe and collects it at another end. If Daisy passes a leak while flowing through the pipe, the small amount of pressure pulls on robot’s “skirt,” collecting data on the size of the leak. Data from Daisy is used to pinpoint leaks within a couple of feet. Traditional methods give only a general area of a potential leak.</p>
<p>“Moreover, Daisy can detect leaks too small for current technology,” Wu said. “We can find leaks when they’re really small, in their early stages, way before a pipe bursts.” Using that information, the team can predict which pipes will burst, and when.</p>
<p>Diana Yousef, a research associate at D-Lab, and Huda Elasaad, a technical research assistant in D-Lab and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, pitched for change:Water Labs, which is developing a portable toilet that shrinks waste for easier removal.</p>
<p>Water makes up the bulk of human waste. The team’s toilet collects solid and liquid waste in a small pouch made of a novel membrane. The membrane passively, rapidly vaporizes 95 percent of the waste’s liquid, releasing pure water vapor. This can be used in the many parts of the world that have off-line sewerage, meaning people lack access to indoor plumbing and rely on expensive sewerage removal.</p>
<p>“While all off-line sewerage requires collection and removal, this is usually frequent and costly. But by so drastically shrinking on-site sewerage volumes on a day-to-day basis, our toilets cut those costs in half and allow for unprecedented scalability,” Yousef said. About 40 cents worth of the material can cut waste of 20 people, according to the team.</p>
<p>The $100K Entrepreneurship Competition consists of three independent contests: Pitch, held in February; Accelerate, held in March; and the Launch grand finale, held last night. Winner of the Pitch competition was <a href="http://www.highqimaging.com/">High Q Imaging</a>, which reduces the cost of MRI machines by 10 times with advanced algorithms and innovative hardware. The Accelerate contest winner was <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/neurosleeve">NeuroSleeve</a>, a team developing an arm brace that detects carpal tunnel syndrome in its early stages, which also competed last night.</p>
<p>Last night’s other competing teams were: <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/rendever">Rendever</a>, <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/neuromesh">NeuroMesh</a>, <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/legionarius">Legionarius</a>, and <a href="http://www.mit100k.org/blog/2017/5/9/caremobile-transportation">CareMobile Transportation</a>.</p>
<p><strong>The $100K impact</strong></p>
<p>Since its 1990 debut, the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition has facilitated the birth of more than 160 companies, which have gone on to raise $1.3 billion in venture capital and build $16 billion in market capitalization. More than 30 of the startups have been acquired by major companies, such as Oracle and Merck, and more 4,600 people are currently employed by former competing companies.</p>
<p>This year, 200 teams applied to the entrepreneurship competition. That number was winnowed to 50 semifinalist teams for the Launch contest. Judges then chose eight finalists to compete in Wednesday’s grand finale event. Semifinalist teams receive mentoring, prototyping funds, media exposure, and discounted services.</p>
<p>In his welcoming remarks, Bar Kafri, an MBA student and managing director of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, who has been involved with the competition for many years, told the teams to embrace the process of competing because it walks them through all the intricacies of starting a company.</p>
<p>Noting that people often ask why he always gets involved with the competition, Kafri said, “It’s the same [reason] that brought me all the way from Israel to MIT. This Institution is a shining light of innovation, a light that guides science and humanity in a sea of uncertainty. The $100K competition is the lighthouse that helps carry this light high above and enables it to be seen from afar. I have the privilege of being the lighthouse keeper, fostering this light.” He added: “Keep shining this light.”</p>
<p>Keynote speaker was Jason Jacobs, founder and CEO of Runkeeper, a popular fitness app that sold to Japanese sportswear giant Asics in 2016.</p>
The winning team Lightmatter pose with organizers and friends.Photo: Samuel AdelmanResearch, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Startups, Contests and academic competitions, MIT $100K competition, Special events and guest speakers, Business and management, Data, Computer science and technology, Artificial intelligence, Water, Sustainability, Invention, Developing countriesDean Kamen: “The magic is out there!”https://news.mit.edu/2017/inventors-kamen-flowers-talks-0518
Noted inventors Kamen and Flowers urge students to unleash their imagination on world’s problems.Thu, 18 May 2017 14:00:00 -0400David L. Chandler | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/inventors-kamen-flowers-talks-0518<p>Two superstars in the world of engineering — Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway transporter and the stair-climbing wheelchair iBot, and Woodie Flowers, MIT professor emeritus and former host of PBS’ “Scientific American Frontiers” — in back-to-back talks to students at MIT last week touted the fun, satisfaction, and potential for global impact that careers in engineering can provide.</p>
<p>Kamen also provided details of a new $300 million public-private partnership that he heads, designed to bring large-scale production to new technologies aimed at providing artificially-produced tissues and even whole organs to people with serious injuries or disease.</p>
<p>The talks, called Inspiring Engineering, preceded the annual <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/course-2007-robot-competition-star-wars-0515">head-to-head robotic competition</a> that is the culmination of the mechanical engineering class 2.007 (Design and Manufacturing I). Both speakers described the history and remarkable growth and popularity of the robotic competition for high-school students called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which Kamen and Flowers co-founded in 1992.</p>
<p>That competition was designed to inspire students to enter STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) by infusing those subjects with the glamour, excitement, team spirit, and friendly competitiveness usually associated with team sports. It has grown from an initial 28 U.S. teams competing that first year to 44,000 teams around the world last year, and total awards of $50 million in scholarships. This summer, for the first time, FIRST Global will launch a competition intended to include teams from every nation on Earth, Kamen said. So far, 161 nations have committed to participate.</p>
<p>Flowers, who is the Pappalardo Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, founded the original precursor of 2.007 in 1970 and ran the class for more than two decades. The concept he introduced, of having students spend a full semester designing and building a device that would compete one-on-one against those of other students in a competition at the end of the semester, was immediately popular. The competitive finale quickly became one of MIT’s most anticipated annual events — and was the inspiration for the creation of FIRST.</p>
<p>Flowers emphasized the difference between “education” and “training,” saying that much of what passes for education really falls into the latter camp — preparing young people for the kinds of tasks that are the most likely to be taken over by robots and artificial intelligence. Real education, he suggested, should focus on open-ended tasks that encourage creativity, inventiveness, and cooperation.</p>
<p>“Societies get the best of what they celebrate,” Flowers said, emphasizing that if sports and entertainment are the most rewarded activities, young people are in for a lot of disappointment since the vast majority of them will never achieve careers in those areas. Education that emphasizes problem solving, as the 2.007 and FIRST competitions strive to do, instead encourage patterns of learning that could lead to productive and meaningful work, tackling the world’s many serious problems.</p>
<p>Kamen, who runs an invention-centered company called Deka based in Manchester, New Hampshire, described a program that he initiated, called the <a href="http://www.armiusa.org/">Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute</a> (ARMI). The venture builds on Kamen’s long history of creating biomedical devices to improve people’s lives. The iBot, which is about to be relaunched in partnership with Toyota, was the first wheelchair that could not only climb stairs but also traverse difficult surfaces such as sand, and enable its users to “stand” so they can be at eye-level with others. He also developed a portable insulin infuser, a sophisticated prosthetic arm for amputees, and water purifying devices for remote locations.</p>
<p>The new public-private consortium, he said, is intended to develop ways to scale up production of technologies to produce tissues, such as growing artificial skin for grafts, which have been under development in labs around the country. ARMI received an $80 million grant from the Department of Defense last December and about $220 million in funding from the 87 companies and institutions (including MIT) that are partners in the project.</p>
<p>These research institutions, Kamen said, in many cases have already developed such regenerative technologies in laboratory-scale tests, including work that could lead to 3-D “printing” of entire organs for transplantation, but they have not been able to cross the chasm that separates promising research from actual commercial production. These universities and research hospitals “have the technologies to generate tissues, but none of them have yet left the lab. The magic is out there — now we have to scale it.”</p>
<p>Although Kamen’s company focuses entirely on invention — “we don’t make anything,” he said, but rather develop new products and then license their production — he nevertheless sees invention as “a last resort.” Whenever possible, he advised, use solutions that already exist: “Everything you can find that somebody else has done that works, use it!”</p>
<p>Although Kamen intended the FIRST competition to be self-sustaining once he got it started, that was far from the case — it has taken up much of his time in all the years since its founding, he said. He has garnered support for the project from four U.S. presidents and many foreign leaders, including former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Perez, who initially persuaded him to make the program international, and movie stars including Morgan Freeman, an early supporter who lent his voice to promotional videos.</p>
<p>A study by researchers at Brandeis University, he said, found that students who took part in FIRST events were 50 percent more likely to go to college, and that girls who took part were four times more likely to pursue technology or engineering majors. This year’s first-ever FIRST Global, he said, will take place in July in Washington’s Constitution Hall.</p>
<p>This kind of competition, Kamen said, fosters skills that prepare youngsters for the kinds of tasks that can lead to truly productive careers. “We have the only sport,” he said, “where every kid can turn pro!”</p>
Woodie Flowers (left) and Dean Kamen.
Photo: Tony PulsoneSchool of Engineering, Biological engineering, Biomechanics, Design, Education, teaching, academics, Health sciences and technology, Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Invention, Manufacturing, Special events and guest speakers, STEM education, K-12 educationCreative Arts Competition rewards arts entrepreneurship at MIThttps://news.mit.edu/2017/creative-arts-competition-rewards-arts-entrepreneurship-at-mit-0516
Roots Studio wins top prize for the most promising arts-focused startup at the Institute.Tue, 16 May 2017 18:00:01 -0400Sharon Lacey | Arts at MIThttps://news.mit.edu/2017/creative-arts-competition-rewards-arts-entrepreneurship-at-mit-0516<p>On May 1, MIT’s yearlong suite of opportunities for student arts entrepreneurs culminated in the fifth annual <a href="http://arts.mit.edu/opportunities/students/creative-arts-competition/" target="_blank">Creative Arts Competition</a>, a $15,000 prize for the most promising arts-focused startup at the Institute. Eight teams, comprised of undergraduate and graduate students from across the Institute, were selected as finalists to pitch publicly to a panel of judges and an audience of peers and mentors. <a href="http://rootsstudio.co/" target="_blank">Roots Studio</a> received the top prize, with PicFic, Cherry Stems, and Goons Art Collective receiving 2nd place, 3rd place and “Audience Choice” awards, respectively.</p>
<p>“Seeing the arts put at the forefront of an Institute that is known for its technology and helping build its arts entrepreneurship ecosystem has been a phenomenal experience and is something that Kaitlin [Terry] and I are extremely honored to have been a part of,” says Noor Khouri ’15, a master of science in building technology (SMBT) candidate in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning who co-directed the 2017 Creative Arts Competition, together with Kaitlin Terry, first-year MBA candidate in the MIT Sloan School of Management.</p>
<p>Taking on hegemony, fast fashion, apathy toward climate change, evolving reading habits, and technological challenges of music creation and instruction, the teams represented how art and business can be combined to renew the social fabric. Some teams pitched businesses that focus on ethical ways to source, buy, or sell products (Goons Art Collective, Moo Moo, Roots Studio), while others pitched arts ventures that connect people to each other or the environment (Before It’s Too Late, CherryStems, Synchronize) or that otherwise nurture meaningful artistic experiences (PicFic, Sogima Music).</p>
<p>Khouri says, “What's unique about art ventures is that they are often mission-driven, particularly by tackling pressing problems through the lens of cultivating a shared artistic experience. A lot of the entrepreneurs that we've worked with focus on the community aspect of the arts and are trying to create a space for artists, musicians, and whoever’s involved in what we like to call the arts continuum, to collaborate with one another. The competition finalists are bringing entrepreneurial thinking to a field that has deep heritage and traditions; their challenge is to transform their artistic and passionate visions into sustainable business models for the long-term.”</p>
<p>The 2017 Creative Arts Competition winner, Roots Studio, exemplifies the mission-driven — yet sustainable — model. They digitize art from rural villages and transform it into high-end and storied products, eliminating the burden of a costly supply chain through licensing. Rebecca Hui, CEO and co-founder of Roots Studio, says she first thought of the venture in 2011 while in India “doing work on rural to urban transitions and how we could focus on generating economic growth in rural areas, not just in cities.” She observed, “Artists seem to be the first victims of gentrification and this is also true in rural India. You find people who are cement workers, for instance, and in the evening they are working on amazing canvases. But they don’t consider themselves artists because of the lack of opportunity.” Since 2015, Hui and her team — Macauley Kenney, Genevieve Ang, Ann Huang, Timothy Hui, Pallavi Sen, Kunal Lunawat — have worked with hundreds of villagers across Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. They established design hubs staffed with designers, where artwork is uploaded and made available to retail markets. With over 200 million people in India who rely on the craft sector for their livelihoods, they aim to connect talented rural artists who live below the poverty line to a multibillion-dollar market that appreciates authentic designs. Hui says the $15,000 seed money from MIT makes her “happy and excited that there is this type of alignment” and she sees the funding as a “bridge to financial support for these artists.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>PicFic (2nd place winner) is a publishing platform that optimizes storytelling in the digital age. It’s a workspace for writers and artists to collaborate and create illustrated serialized fiction, called picfics, a format that caters to mobile reading. They aim to help creators spread their stories to a wide community of readers. “We’re reinventing stories for readers, and creating a platform for writers and artists for highest profit and distribution,” say team members Christine Oh, Silvia Park, Jae Lim Chung, and Christian D. Vazquez. This summer they will participate in the inaugural <a href="http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/accelerator/mit-nyc-startup-studio/" target="_blank">MIT NYC Startup Studio</a> and join the <a href="http://entrepreneurship.columbia.edu/resource/csl/" target="_blank">Columbia Startup Lab</a> to further develop PicFic.</p>
<p>Cherry Stems (3rd place winner) wants to do for music production what Instagram did for image editing. This mobile app enables users to “cherry-pick” sounds from their immediate surroundings and turn them into sharable looped beats called stems. Users select any combination of recorded sounds and a beat style. Once created, users can sing or rap over their stems, allowing users with any amount of musical experience to make the most of their creativity.</p>
<p>The “Audience Choice” winner, Goons Art Collective, upcycles vintage clothes by adding politically-charged hand-painted designs and incorporates leftist politics into a novel marketing campaign. Through their clothing line Riot Gear, and their zine <em>Heretic</em>, Goons confronts the problem of mass misinformation in a world of "alternative facts," and represents non-hegemonic identities. It is a protest-focused venture against capitalistic practices, white supremacy, sexism, and other repressive institutions.</p>
<p>Members of last year’s Creative Art Competition winning team, <a href="http://tekuma.io/" target="_blank">Tekuma</a>, presented the prize money to the winning teams and offered them a glimpse at what the year ahead may hold. Tekuma connects artists and property owners, providing art works for real estate developments. A year ago, they were placing art in Airbnb rentals in the northeast. Marwan Aboudib, CEO and co-founder of Tekuma, says, “Now, we’re working with some of the biggest real estate developers in the U.S. We’ve scaled up. With a new contract, it’s soon to exceed $1 million in revenue. We’ve also raised capital, in total $350,000 … We were able to grow the team — we have 11 with an intern. We have software engineers from MIT who are really passionate about the arts and virtual reality, and combining the creative world with that of engineering, which is amazing. That’s what MIT is all about. … As always, we are still trying to figure things out. Since we won the award, we have also designed a frame. We’ve created an artist portal where artists can upload their works and a curator portal where people can curate a selection of their art works. We’ve built a lot of tech around it. We started to deal with the things that are more business oriented and less passion oriented.”</p>
<p>Since winning the Creative Arts Competition in 2016, Tekuma also created a new division for civic-scale projects, Tekuma XL. “The original vision was to have a network of spaces, and once you have a network of spaces you have a city,” says Aboudib. He offered this advice for this year’s teams as they continue their ventures beyond the competition: “Apply the designer mentality. Your project is never finished. Never be too happy. There is always room for improvement.” Also, he suggests, know when “to put passion aside and start thinking about your numbers. Invest in the business model, talk to your customers, and the more you talk to your customers, the better your business model will become.”</p>
<p>MIT fosters arts entrepreneurship throughout the academic year — from the <a href="http://hackingarts.com/" target="_blank">Hacking Arts</a> festival in the fall to the Creative Arts Competition in the spring. Helen Smith, second-year grad student in MIT Sloan and co-chair of Hacking Arts 2016, says, “Relationships form at Hacking Arts. ... We are trying to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout the year. So teams are meeting and coming out of Hacking Arts with ideas they continue to work on and then ideally bring into things like the Creative Arts Competition.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>Through its startup competitions, mentorship opportunities and makerspace access, MIT is defining the sometime ambiguous term “arts entrepreneurship” in a distinctive way. Lisa Niedermeyer, director of client development at Fractured Atlas, who attended the 15K competition, points out that the word “entrepreneurship” itself gets misused to refer to “small business best practices.” Entrepreneurship, she says, strictly means identifying “what is not in the market and then building a scalable business to fill that gap.” So, it is no surprise that “arts entrepreneurship” has many definitions.</p>
<p>Smith perhaps encapsulates what sets MIT’s approach to arts entrepreneurship apart: “It’s really driven by innovation and the way technology is incorporated into and furthers the arts. The way these ideas come together is not from sitting in a traditional business class. It’s how do we bring something new to the arts that we are passionate about and integrate the classic business concerns. It’s not about pulling artists into a room to teach them business. It’s about pulling people from Sloan, from Course 6, from the arts, from across the Institute and from the community beyond MIT, to collaborate. That’s what makes it stand out—that approach from a technology and innovation standpoint.”</p>
Roots Studio team members Rebecca Hui (left) and Macauley Kenney recieve the top prize in the 2017 Creative Arts Competition.Photo: Lenny MartinezArts, Special events and guest speakers, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Business and management, Sloan School of Management, Startups, Alumni/ae, School of Architecture and Planning, Students, Graduate, postdoctoralHacking discriminationhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/hackathon-discrimination-racism-bias-0516
Student teams develop technology-based tools to address racism and bias.Tue, 16 May 2017 15:00:00 -0400Karl-Lydie Jean-Baptiste | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/hackathon-discrimination-racism-bias-0516<p>In July 2016, feeling frustrated about violence in the news and continued social and economic roadblocks to progress for minorities, members of the Black Alumni of MIT (BAMIT) were galvanized by a <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2016/letter-regarding-recent-violent-tragedies-0710">letter to the MIT community</a> from President L. Rafael Reif. Responding to a recent series of tragic shootings, he asked “What are we to do?”</p>
<p>BAMIT members gathered in Washington to brainstorm a response, and out of that session emerged a plan to organize a hackathon aimed at finding technology-based solutions to address discrimination. The event, held at MIT last month, was called “Hacking Discrimination” and spearheaded by Elaine Harris ’78 and Lisa Egbuonu-Davis ’79 in partnership with the MIT Alumni Association.</p>
<p>The 11 pitches presented during the two-day hackathon covered a wide range of issues affecting communities of color, including making routine traffic stops less harmful for motorists and police officers, preventing bias in the hiring process by creating a professional profile using a secure blockchain system, flagging unconscious biases using haptic (touch-based) feedback and augmented reality, and providing advice for those who experience discrimination.</p>
<p>Hackathon winners were selected in three categories – Innovation, Impact, and Storytelling – and received gifts valued at $1,500. The teams also received advice from local experts on their topics throughout the second day of hacking.</p>
<p>The Innovation prize was awarded to Taste Voyager, a platform that enables individuals or families to host guests and foster cultural understanding over a home-cooked meal. The Impact prize went to Rahi, a smartphone app that makes shopping easier for recipients of the federally funded Women, Infant, and Children food-assistance program. The Storytelling prize was awarded to Just-Us and Health, which uses surveys to track the effects of discrimination in neighborhoods.</p>
<p>As Randal Pinkett SM ’98, MBA ’98, PhD ’02 said in his keynote speech, “Technology alone won't solve bias in the U.S.,” and the hackathon made sure to focus on technology’s human users. Under the guidance of Fahad Punjwani, an MIT graduate student in integrated design and management, the event’s mentors ensured that participants considered not just how to deploy their technologies but also the people they aimed to serve.</p>
<p>With a human-centered design process as the guideline, Punjwani encouraged participants to speak with people affected by the problem and carefully define their target audience. For some,&nbsp;including the Taste Voyager team, which began the hackathon as Immigrant Integration, this resulted in an overhaul of the project. Examining their target audience led the team to switch their focus from helping immigrants integrate to creating a way for people of different backgrounds to connect and help each other in a safe space.</p>
<p>“We hacked the topic of our topic,” said Jennifer Williams of the Lincoln Laboratory’s Human Language Technology group, who led the team. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The Rahi team, which was led by Hildreth England, assistant director of the Media Lab’s Open Agriculture Initiative, also focused on the user as it attempted to improve the national Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program by acknowledging the racial and ethnic inequalities embedded in the food system. For example, according to Feeding America, one in five African-American and Latino households is food insecure — lacking consistent and adequate access to affordable and nutritious food — compared to one in 10 Caucasian households.</p>
<p>The team created mockups for a smartphone app and focused on improving “the experience of using it before [shopping], and then in a store because that’s where all of the problems are,” explained England. In some states, WIC recipients have only a sheet of paper listing the foods available through the program.</p>
<p>During the first day of the event, speeches by Kirk Kolenbrander, vice president at MIT; J. Phillip Thompson, associate professor of urban studies and planning; and Shannon Al-Wakeel, executive director of the Muslim Justice League, reminded participants of the past and current social justice issues needing solutions. The following morning, in a keynote address, Pinkett stressed the strengths and weaknesses that come with cultural differences. "Our greatest strength is our diversity; our greatest liability is in our cultural ignorance," he said.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://giving.mit.edu/search/node/4003600">Hacking Discrimination Fund</a>, which was announced at the event, has been created to support undergraduate and graduate students addressing racism and discrimination through events such as the hackathon, development of sustainable community dialogue, contest development, and other activities that specifically address racism in the U.S. The fund’s emphasis will be placed on solutions that aim to overcome challenges to safety or economic and professional success for populations that have historically been victims of racism.</p>
<p>Alumnae organizers Egbuonu-Davis and Harris worked closely with a number of collaborators to launch the inaugural event. Contributors included Punjwani; Leo Anthony G. Celi SM ’09, a principal research scientist at the MIT Institute of Medical Engineering and Science; Trishan Panch, an MIT lecturer, primary care physician, and co-founder and Chief Medical Officer at Wellframe; and Marzyeh Ghassemi and Tristan Naumann, both MIT CSAIL PhD candidates.</p>
“Hacking Discrimination,” spearheaded by Elaine Harris ’78 and Lisa Egbuonu-Davis ’79 in partnership with the MIT Alumni Association, aimed to find technology-based solutions to address discrimination.
Photo: Joe McGonegal/MIT Alumni AssociationCommunity, Diversity and inclusion, Hackathon, Students, Alumni/ae, Student life, Administration, President L. Rafael Reif, Special events and guest speakers, Computer science and technologyA record crowd in Washington celebrates MIT’s culture of innovation and discoveryhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/record-crowd-celebrates-mit-culture-in-washington-0515
Since the fall of 2016, the MIT Better World tour has reached eight cities and three continents, and it resumes this fall in Boston.
Mon, 15 May 2017 17:00:01 -0400Resource Developmenthttps://news.mit.edu/2017/record-crowd-celebrates-mit-culture-in-washington-0515<p>On April 13, the Better World tour, celebrating MIT’s $5 billion <a href="https://betterworld.mit.edu/?utm_source=mit&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_term=rd-story&amp;utm_content=2017_05&amp;utm_campaign=bw-dc" target="_blank">Campaign for a Better World</a>, arrived at the Newseum in Washington. The event marked the largest gathering of MIT alumni in the DC area to date, with over 560 guests in attendance. MIT President L. Rafael Reif thanked attendees for coming together as one “MIT family” in support of the campaign. “Like any great research university, our mission directs us to advance knowledge and to educate students,” he said, and when the people of MIT pursue those goals, “they win Nobel Prizes.”</p>
<p>Speakers included MIT students, faculty, and alumni from across the academic and professional spectrum, such as jazz musician and PhD candidate in brain and cognitive sciences Stephen Allsop. “Improvisation is really a powerful tool for moving the boundaries of what we know,” Allsop said, “and this is what we do every day at MIT.”</p>
<p>Megan Smith ’86, SM ’88, who served as the third United States chief technology officer and assistant to the president under President Obama, spoke of MIT’s shaping influence in the capital, from MIT Vice President Vannevar Bush, who helped establish the National Science Foundation, to the thousands of MIT scholars whose work has shaped national and international policy.</p>
<p>Next, President Reif introduced three “MIT stars”: Lily Tsai, John Urschel, and Sangeeta Bhatia.</p>
<p>As founder and faculty director of the MIT Governance Lab, Associate Professor Lily Tsai leads a team of political scientists developing new strategies in citizen engagement, government responsiveness, and accountability in developing regions. Whether examining the public mistrust in government during Liberia’s Ebola crisis or the cultural norms underlying the practice of “vote buying” in the Philippines, Tsai views her work primarily as the study of people. For Tsai, MIT offers the perfect climate for research that “grows out of engagement with the real world" and "looks hard at the darkest parts of society and figures out a way to let in the light.”</p>
<p>John Urschel has the unusual distinction of being both a PhD candidate in applied mathematics at MIT and an offensive lineman for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. After discovering a love of mathematics as an undergraduate at Penn State, Urschel came to MIT and found “home.” He studies spectral graph theory, numerical linear algebra, and machine learning, and he is proud to be an MIT Dean of Science Fellow. “[My fellowship] puts me in the very best position to do the best work I can,” Urschel said. “I hope that I can make contributions in mathematics that justify the great investment [MIT] has made in me.”</p>
<p>Professor Sangeeta Bhatia SM ’93, PhD ’97 creates tiny nanoparticles that will have an enormous impact on human health. Bhatia directs the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and serves on the faculty of MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. By integrating nanotechnology with human biology and disease, Bhatia and her colleagues have developed a revolutionary nanoparticle that can locate very early-stage cancers and then activate enzymes that are detectable by a simple urine test. This breakthrough may save some of the millions of lives lost to cancer and was possible, Bhatia notes, “because of the collaborations that are so fundamental to the way MIT operates.”</p>
<p>In his closing remarks, President Reif said that he hoped the evening was “an opportunity to sample the future, as invented by the people of MIT,” and encouraged attendees to help “deliver that future,” through The MIT campaign.</p>
<p>This fall, the Better World tour continues with stops in Boston, Houston, and other national and international locations. For more information, visit <a href="https://betterworld.mit.edu/events/?utm_source=mit&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_term=rd-story&amp;utm_content=2017_05&amp;utm_campaign=bw-dc" target="_blank">betterworld.mit.edu/events/</a>.</p>
Guests at MIT's Better World event at the Newseum explored exhibits highlighting MIT invention and innovation. Photo: Edwin RemsbergCampaign for a Better World, Special events and guest speakers, Community, President L. Rafael Reif, Alumni/ae, GivingThe Force was strong in this robot competitionhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/course-2007-robot-competition-star-wars-0515
MechE class ends semester with ingeniously designed robots battling on a “Star Wars”-themed playing field.Mon, 15 May 2017 13:30:00 -0400David L. Chandler | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/course-2007-robot-competition-star-wars-0515<p>In one of MIT’s most eagerly awaited annual events, Thursday night dozens of robots designed and built by undergraduates in a mechanical engineering class endured hours of intense, boisterous, and often jubilant competition as they scrambled to rack up points in one-on-one clashes on special “Star Wars”-themed playing arenas.</p>
<p>As has often happened in these contests — which have been going on, and constantly evolving, <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/mechanical-engineering-rite-of-passage-1215">since 1970</a> — the ultimate winner in the single-elimination tournament was not the one that’d most consistently racked up the highest scores all evening. Rather, it was a high-scoring bot that triumphed when its competitor missed a crucial scoring opportunity because its starting position was just slightly out of alignment.</p>
<p>The class, 2.007 (Design and Manufacturing I), which has 165 mostly sophomore students, begins by giving each student an identical kit of parts, from which they each have to create a robot to carry out a variety of tasks to score points. This year, in a nod to the 40th anniversary of the first “Star Wars” film, released in 1977, the robots crawled around and over a replica of a “Star Wars” X-wing Starfighter. Students could earn points by pulling up a sliding frame to rescue prisoners trapped in carbonite; by dumping Imperial stormtroopers into a trash trench; by activating a cantina band; or by spinning up one or both of two large cylindrical thrusters on the wings. Students could choose which tasks to have their robot try to accomplish, and had just one semester to design, test, and operate their bot.</p>
<p>The devices could be pre-programmed to carry out set tasks, but could also be manually controlled through a radio-linked controller. As in past years, the open-ended nature of the assignment — and the variety of different ways to score — led to a wide range of strategies and designs, spanning from tall towers that would extend by telescoping out or with hinged sections, to elevator-like lifting devices, to small and nimble bots that scurried around to carry out multiple tasks, to an array of arms and devices for grasping or turning the different pieces. They sported names like Dodocopter, Bonnie and Clyde, Pitfall, Torque Toilet, Spinit to Winit, and Nicki Spinaj.</p>
<p>Students could earn extra points by accomplishing any of the tasks during an initial period when the robot had to perform autonomously, before the start of a manually remote-controlled round. The students were allowed to create multiple robots to carry out different tasks, as long as they were all made from the basic kit of parts, and all fit within a designated starting area. Most of the students opted to build two devices, and some even made three.</p>
<p>Second-place finisher Richard Moyer, with his small but powerful and robust robot called Tornado, consistently scored 960.5 points in every round (the highest score achieved by any of the bots), by spinning both the lower and upper thrusters to their maximum speeds — and by using the lower thruster during the high-scoring autonomous period. But on the final matchup, Tornado was just slightly out of place in the starting box, and missed the thruster, losing out on that big initial score.</p>
<p>The robot used a simple but reliable design, which sported a single horizontally-mounted drive wheel that it used to spin both the lower and upper thrusters, and also to activate an elevator mechanism that carried it from one wing to the other. It was “like the Swiss army knife of robots,” thanks to this multifunction device, said Sangbae Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and co-instructor of the course, who was dressed as the “Star Wars” wookie, Chewbacca.</p>
<p>The grand-prize winner, Tom Frejowski, also built a compact, powerful robot that concentrated on the spinning task, and scored 640 in the final round to take home the top trophy (a replica of the MIT dome). Frejowski’s robot, in order to ensure that it made a straight shot from the starting position to the thruster to line up just right to spin the heavy cylinder, used a single motor to drive both of its front wheels, which helped him earn consistent high scores. “That’s how he goes dead straight every time,” said co-instructor Amos Winter, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, who was dressed as Darth Vader and shared the emcee duties with Kim.</p>
<p>During the tournament, which took place in the Johnson Ice Rink, all of the course teachers and assistants were dressed in various “Star Wars” costumes, and a packed audience of fellow students, families, and visitors of all ages cheered their encouragement with great enthusiasm. During a break, each of the teaching assistants was presented with a special memento: a beaver-cut twig from a beaver dam in Nova Scotia, symbolizing MIT’s beaver mascot, and nature’s original mechanical engineer.</p>
<p>Echoing the sentiments of many students in the class, sophomore James Li said of the class in a pre-taped video: “I had a bit of building experience, but I never had to design and build anything of this complexity. … It was a great experience.”</p>
An Imperial Snowtrooper inspects a competitor’s entry at the 2017 MIT Mechanical Engineering 2.007 Student Design Final Robot Competition.
Photo: Tony PulsoneSpecial events and guest speakers, Classes and programs, School of Engineering, Contests and academic competitions, Robotics, Robots, Students, UndergraduateThe U.S. and Mexico: What’s the way forward? https://news.mit.edu/2017/starr-forum-us-mexico-relations-0515
MIT event offers look at how U.S.-Mexico relations could revive. Mon, 15 May 2017 11:00:00 -0400Peter Dizikes | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/starr-forum-us-mexico-relations-0515<p>Over the past two years, U.S.-Mexico relations have taken a distinctive turn, largely stemming from the issue agenda President Donald Trump has brought to U.S. politics: Trump campaigned on building a border wall, perhaps to be paid for by Mexico, and says he wants to change the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which shapes the countries’ economic relations.</p>
<p>The wall may not reach fruition, and it’s unclear whether NAFTA will be significantly altered, but these political stances have created a “fundamental tectonic shift in the relationship” between the U.S. and Mexico, observed Arturo Sarukhan, former Mexican ambassador to the U.S., at a public forum at MIT on Friday.</p>
<p>To find the last time the U.S. and Mexico were this far out of alignment, Sarukhan suggested, one has to go back to the Cold War, when the U.S. emphasized intervention in Central America as part of its policy of containment, and found itself and Mexico on opposite sides of multiple political struggles.</p>
<p>“Not since this moment in the late 1980s has this relationship been this acrimonious,” Sarukhan told the audience of about 150 in MIT’s Bartos Theater.</p>
<p>And yet, the two countries conduct about $1.4 billion in trade every day, with about 6 million U.S. jobs depending on trade across the border, as Sarukhan noted. So that presents a vital question: How can the two countries move their relationship forward?</p>
<p><strong>From tension, a path forward</strong></p>
<p>For Sarukhan, the answer lies partly in an adage he attributed to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel: “You shouldn’t let a crisis go to waste.” That is, when pressure for change occurs, it may actually present an opportunity to make needed policy revisions. And as Sarukhan outlined it, that means a more proactive role for Mexico in helping to shape the relationship.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Consider NAFTA. In Sarukhan’s view, new trade negotiations could lead to advances in the pact. Laying out a protrade case, Sarukhan suggested that — first of all — Mexico should insist on including Canada in any new talks, to help update the entire pact.</p>
<p>“There is a real possibility for the three North American countries to update the agreement,” he said. That would allow the negotiations to include issues considered in more recent trade talks, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.</p>
<p>Reopening trade discussions might also allow the two countries to update their mutual infrastructure needs. The signing of NAFTA in the 1990s, Sarukhan said, prompted the U.S. and Mexico to build their first cross-border railroad line since the 1910s. The current connections between the countries, he added, are “not up to par with this huge flow of commerce.” He also suggested that a NAFTA update could help the energy industry in all three countries.</p>
<p>Sarukhan noted that NAFTA had indeed created regional job losses, along with overall gains in GDP. “There is no doubt that in a free trade agreement like NAFTA, there have been winners and losers,” he said. In response to an audience question, he noted that an updated agreement could stand to include more support for diplaced workers.</p>
<p>Sarukhan served as Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2007-2013; he is currently a strategic consultant and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a distinguished visiting scholar at the University of Southern California Annenberg Public Diplomacy School. Sarukhan’s remarks were followed by an on-stage question-and-answer session he conducted with Lourdes Melgar SM ’88 PhD ’92, the Robert Wilhem Fellow at MIT’s Center for International Studies (CIS) and Mexico’s former deputy secretary of energy for hydrocarbons.</p>
<p>The event on Friday was part of the Starr Forum, a series of panels hosted by MIT’s Center for International Studies (CIS); it was also co-sponsored by the MIT-Mexico Program.</p>
<p><strong>On the border</strong></p>
<p>When it comes to a prospective wall, Sarukhan, like the Mexican government, opposes the project, and he voiced his skepticism about a barrier meant to cover 3,000 miles of terrain.</p>
<p>Yet he noted that security was a real concern and offered that along with NAFTA, the event most shaping U.S.-Mexico relations in the last quarter-century was the September 2001 terrorist attack on the U.S.</p>
<p>“It behooves Mexico to work hand in hand with the U.S. to prevent the border from being used to undermine security,” Sarukhan said.</p>
<p>In current public discussion, though, the concept of a wall is more frequently debated in terms of immigration. And yet, as Sarukhan noted, there has been a net flow of immigrants from the U.S. to Mexico over the last several years. In turn, he suggested, this not only means a border wall would be nonessential for U.S. policy goals, but that Mexico should pivot, if necessary, to find room for residents returning from the U.S.</p>
<p>“If Mexico is intelligent, this could be an injection of human capital,” Sarukhan said.</p>
<p>Immigration discussion, he added, should revolve around policies addressing four areas: the overall flow of people across the border, the status of the millions of Mexican immigrants in the U.S., visa requirements, and regulating the flows of temporary workers.</p>
<p>But regarding immigration, as with trade, Sarukhan suggested that Mexico’s best approach would be to help set its joint agenda with the U.S., rather than merely being responsive to U.S. politics. Indeed, he added, for countries such as Mexico that are not military superpowers, this is virtually a guiding principle for survival in a globalized world.</p>
<p>“You sit at the table, or you’re on the menu,” Sarukhan quipped.</p>
Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan (left), former Mexican Ambassador to the US (2007-2013), and Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow and Mexico's former Deputy Secretary of Energy for hydrocarbons. Photo: MIT Center for International StudiesInternational relations, Mexico, Latin America, Politics, Political science, Government, Business and management, Immigration, MISTI, SHASS, Security studies and military, Special events and guest speakers, Center for International StudiesYou belong @ MIThttps://news.mit.edu/2017/you-belong-at-mit-catherine-good-0512
A new initiative developed by the Teaching and Learning Lab is designed to increase students’ sense of academic belonging.Fri, 12 May 2017 14:10:01 -0400Maisie O’Brien | MindHandHeart Initiativehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/you-belong-at-mit-catherine-good-0512<p>“Wait a minute… I’m the only female in this class!” realizes the engineering student in the cartoon, sandwiched beside her two male classmates. She shakes nervously, hands clenched, considering the responsibility of “representing all of womankind” before collapsing face-down on her desk. “Ditz” and “Psycho” thought bubbles appear above her smirking classmates’ heads.</p>
<p>So began the kickoff event in the <a href="http://tll.mit.edu/design/you-belong-mit">You Belong @ MIT</a> interactive seminar by <a href="https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral-Programs/Psychology/Faculty-Bios/Catherine-Good" target="_blank">Catherine Good</a>, an associate professor of psychology at Baruch College of the City University of New York, senior research scientist at <a href="https://www.turnaroundusa.org/" target="_blank">Turnaround for Children</a>, and expert in the field of academic belonging. Participants in Good’s April 4th seminar debated the meaning and implications of <a href="https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d7c76b87df576adf2bea13f3357d980b" target="_blank">this cartoon</a> by <a href="http://jorgecham.com/">Jorge Cham</a> of <em>The Stanford Daily.</em> Organized by the <a href="http://tll.mit.edu/" target="_blank">MIT Teaching and Learning Lab</a>, with support from the <a href="http://mindhandheart.mit.edu/innovation-fund" target="_blank">MindHandHeart Innovation Fund</a>, the event was part of a three-phase initiative to increase students’ sense of academic belonging.</p>
<p>Academic belonging, Good explained, is distinct from friendship or acceptance from peers. “It’s not about whether I have a friend in my class or someone to go to the movies with. It’s about feeling like a valued member of my academic department or discipline.” She continued, “The absence of academic belonging impacts many students, but it affects underrepresented minorities and women in STEM fields most acutely. This can lead to decreased engagement in the classroom, and in some cases, poor academic performance.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>In the first part of the seminar, Good presented the latest research on academic belonging to faculty, postdocs, and administrators from across the Institute. During a follow-up workshop, participants discussed concrete strategies for increasing students’ sense of belonging and overall resiliency.</p>
<p><strong>Fixed vs. growth mindset</strong></p>
<p>Good began by introducing two commonly held theories of intelligence related to academic belonging: the fixed and growth mindsets. Those in the fixed camp view intelligence as determined by nature, while those in the growth camp believe it is malleable and rooted in effort. “Individuals with a fixed mindset view achievement as a way to validate their identity. Those with a growth mindset view achievement as a way to acquire new skills and knowledge. They may be working to solve the same problems, but they’re pursuing different goals.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>Good spoke to the specific challenges that a fixed mindset poses for high-achieving students. “Many of them haven’t developed the skills or resources to overcome academic challenges,” she said. “They’re left with their own interpretation of ‘What does it mean to study really hard for a test and only get a B-minus?’ Effort, hard work, failure, struggle — all of those things take on a different meaning in a fixed vs. a growth mindset. A fixed view of intelligence is great as long as you never have to struggle.”</p>
<p>The group discussed how many students enter MIT with a fixed view of intelligence, and the challenges it can pose. A participant reflected, “One of the things we have to consider at MIT is that we’re skimming the upper echelon of students. Many of them were at the top of their high school class. Now that they’re in a pool of all high-achieving people, it can feel like they’re not smart anymore.”</p>
<p>Another participant added, “Many of our students have built their whole self-concept around the idea of being ‘smart.’ If they feel like they’re not ‘smart’ anymore, it’s almost as if they don’t exist. If they’re not the best, then they feel like they’re nothing.”</p>
<p><strong>Strategies for growth and belonging</strong></p>
<p>Participants discussed ways to encourage students to adopt a growth mindset, and normalize effort and engagement as the path to success. Good suggested starting with the neurological underpinnings of intelligence. “In my research, I’m explaining to elementary, middle, and high school students that the brain is filled with cells called neurons, and to get smarter means the neurons communicate between each other more effectively through repeating an activity. The mind is like a muscle: The more you work it, the stronger it gets.”</p>
<p>Good reviewed research studies and highlighted some of the documented effects of fostering a growth mindset. “It’s striking that when you teach people about growth mindset, that gaps in achievement between black and white kids, men and women, go away even on standardized tests.” Growth mindset, she said, has also been shown to counter stereotype threat, a condition where one feels at risk of confirming to stereotypes about their social group.</p>
<p>Participants shared ways they or their colleagues have worked to encourage a growth mindset at MIT, as well as new ideas for doing so. The group discussed discouraging overt competitiveness, which can undermine belonging; grading students based on established benchmarks of mastery; allowing students to correct their homework and receive partial credit for doing so; working with struggling students to cultivate better studying strategies; recognizing what students are doing well in addition to what they can improve upon; and acknowledging that a student’s performance in one class is not enough information to predict their overall success in a field of study.</p>
<p>The group discussed how hearing stories of failure and resilience from professors and respected peers is profoundly meaningful to students who are struggling academically and may feel isolated. “Everyone shows you Superman, but no one shows you Clark Kent,” summarized one participant.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The interactive seminar and workshop on academic belonging were preceded by a book club on the same topic. The Teaching and Learning Lab is currently planning the second of the three-part You Belong @ MIT program.</p>
<p>You Belong @ MIT was funded by the MindHandHeart Innovation Fund, which awards grants to projects advancing wellness, mental health, and community at MIT.</p>
Catherine Good leads an interactive seminar on academic belonging with faculty, postdocs, and administrators from across MIT. Photo: Maisie O'BrienSpecial events and guest speakers, Teaching and Learning Laboratory, MindHandHeart, Community, Students, Student life, Mental health, Behavior, Diversity and inclusion, Women in STEM, Education, teaching, academicsCelebrating 10 years of Scratchhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/celebrating-10-years-of-scratch-0511
Scratch Day @ MIT was one of more than 1,100 global events during May to celebrate the kids’ programming language and online community on its 10th anniversary.Thu, 11 May 2017 13:05:01 -0400MIT Media Labhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/celebrating-10-years-of-scratch-0511<p>Many of the children taking part in <a href="http://day.scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Scratch Day 2017</a> at the MIT Media Lab on May 6 were not even born when the <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Scratch</a> programming language was released in 2007.</p>
<p>“It’s exceeded our expectations,” said MIT LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research <a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/people/mres/overview/" target="_blank">Mitchel Resnick</a>, head of the Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group, which develops Scratch. “We’re really excited about the way Scratch has enabled kids around the world to experiment, explore, and express themselves with computational tools. As children create and share Scratch projects, they’re learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for everyone in today’s society.”</p>
<p>Scratch is a free programming tool for children aged 8-16 to create animations, games, music, and interactive stories. It’s also an online community where children can share their projects and collaborate with one another. Over the past decade, more than 18 million people have joined the Scratch online community, from every country in the world except on the continent of Antarctica. Scratchers have shared more than 22 million projects, with 30,000 new ones every day.</p>
<p>Each year in May, children, parents, and educators gather at Scratch Day events to meet in person and to celebrate Scratch and <a href="https://www.scratchjr.org/" target="_blank">ScratchJr</a>, a simplified version for children aged 5-7, released in 2014. This month, on the 10th anniversary of Scratch, there are more than 1,100 Scratch Day events in almost 70 countries.</p>
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<p><strong>Scratch @ MIT</strong></p>
<p>The May 6 event at the Media Lab drew 300 children, parents, and teachers from across the Boston area and beyond. When tickets were made available online last month, they sold out in just three hours.</p>
<p>The first to arrive was 16-year-old Jocelyn from Richmond, Virginia, whose Scratch username is CrazyNimbus. “Scratch was on our computers at school, and I discovered it just when I was looking for ways to learn how to code,” she said. Jocelyn started using the language offline when she was 11 and joined the online community the following year. “I originally signed up because I wanted to make a game, but then I found out how exciting and supportive the community was. I create all kinds of things — animations, stories, interactive games, whatever comes to mind. And the constructive feedback I get from other Scratchers inspires me to add more to my projects.”</p>
<p>“Jocelyn is essentially an ‘artsy’ kid,” said her father, Don Marencik. “But Scratch has helped her use her analytical side to learn computer science as a way to express her creative side.” Another benefit, Marencik said, is that gender, race, and other “labels” have no place in Scratch: “Everybody’s equal.” Jocelyn also runs Scratch camps, and last year she set up <a href="http://www.crowdrise.com/gottecrichmond" target="_blank">Got Tec Richmond</a> to provide technology equipment to underserved students and teachers in the Richmond area.</p>
<p>“All of you have been part of how Scratch has changed over the past 10 years,” Scratch co-creator and Media Lab research scientist <a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/people/scratch-data-blocks/overview/" target="_blank">Natalie Rusk</a> told the children as they sat on bean bags, laughing at pictures of how the Scratch Cat mascot has also evolved in that time. “Scratch really builds on the Logo programming language that came out of the <a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/posts/the-seeds-that-seymour-sowed/" target="_blank">work of Seymour Papert</a>, who was a founding faculty member of the Media Lab,” Rusk explained. “The research has shown that the best way for kids to learn is by constructing something that's personally meaningful to them. It's by constructing something that you really start to think about your own ideas, and reflect on them. Kids try making something and see 'Does that work or not?' Then they fix it and get feedback from others. It's by creating something that they care about that motivates them to problem solve and learn.”</p>
<p><strong>Learning by making</strong></p>
<p>That philosophy of learning-by-making was evident at Scratch Day where children (and adults) could try out any number of 15 different hands-on activities. Among them: designing and printing edible computational cookies, exploring light patterns with Scratch, playing with a PBS KIDS version of ScratchJr, and creating musical monsters. Throughout the event, a big screen showed video cards that Scratchers created on the spot to celebrate Scratch’s 10th birthday.</p>
<p>Walter, a 9-year-old from Seattle, was particularly interested in the Share and Tell activity, where kids presented their projects and took feedback from the audience. Walter chose the username wers90 when he started on Scratch last September. “It’s just really fun. I do some animations but most of the time I love to create games. If I end up doing other things with coding when I get older, Scratch will probably still be my fun time.” He began to teach it to his 4-year-old sister Andrea last month, and she’s already created an animation with music she recorded. Their mother Jenn Lin, who works in coding, has also become involved, and together all three made a musical animation they called The Scratch Band project.</p>
<p>Eight-year-old Gabriel, from nearby Belmont, Massachusetts, goes by the username eyeball. As he experimented with the light play activity at Scratch Day, he explained how he was creating shadows and programming the lights to change color because “I’m the boss of it. You can do so much with Scratch.” His 7-year-old friend Cameron, a.k.a. kingcamster<em> </em>on Scratch, said his favorite thing is “when I come up with my own ideas to make up my own games.” Cameron and Gabriel said they enjoy being part of Scratch’s online community.</p>
<p>Saffiya from Cambridge agreed. The 11-year-old, whose username is 11bellasings, described it as a respectful space. “If another Scratcher changes my project without asking me, I get irritated, but that doesn’t happen much. Usually, they say ‘What about this?’ and they help me make changes. Then it’s more fun because it becomes a group project.” Other children said that mastering Scratch has helped them across all their school studies, in that it’s given them more confidence to dive into new subjects and ideas and to learn by doing and collaborating. Saffiya’s mother Asha Tall said what she likes about Scratch is that it teaches kids to “make, not just use, technology. They can actually build and alter something that they want. This is an easy way into coding.”</p>
<p><strong>What’s next for Scratch?</strong></p>
<p>There are 20 people working with Resnick and Rusk on the Scratch team, which is based at the Media Lab. Their work is backed by a range of companies, foundations, and individual donors. The <a href="http://www.scratchfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Scratch Foundation</a>, established in 2014, supports fundraising and dissemination of Scratch.</p>
<p>In 2013, the Scratch team released an updated version, called <a href="http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Scratch_2.0" target="_blank">Scratch 2.0</a>, which allowed users to create&nbsp;projects&nbsp;directly in their web browsers. The group is now working on the next generation of Scratch. “We’re planning to do lots more in the next 10 years,” Resnick told the Scratch Day crowd at the Media Lab. “And a lot of that will come from your ideas and suggestions.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/projects/scratch-3-0/overview/" target="_blank">Scratch 3.0</a> is slated for release next year. It will make it easier for Scratchers to create projects on mobile devices, such as tablets and cellphones. Scratch product lead <a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/people/kaschm/overview/" target="_blank">Kasia Chmielinski</a> said that the team is rebuilding Scratch from the ground up. “We want to be on every platform. We want to be accessible in all places across the world, even where they have unreliable internet. And, we also want Scratch to connect with kids in terms of their interests, such as music, dance, space, anything they like. There should be pathways to connect all children to coding and making.”</p>
<p>Scratch 3.0 will also connect users with their external world — using Scratch as a universal platform for coding things in their lives, such as a LEGO construction kit, a music streaming service, a DIY project, or any physical item they use.</p>
<p>The overall and ongoing goal for Scratch, Chmielinski emphasized, “is to be where kids are — all kids in all places.”</p>
Throughout Scratch Day, children from the Boston area and farther afield collaborated on computing projects at the MIT Media Lab.Photo: Kelly Lorenz ImageryScratch, ScratchJr, Media Lab, STEM education, Special events and guest speakers, Education, teaching, academics, Programming, Programming languages, K-12 education, Computer science and technology, School of Architecture and PlanningProspects for nuclear disarmament in uncertain timeshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/moniz-lee-prospects-nuclear-disarmament-0509
In conference on nuclear threat, former Energy Secretary Moniz and Rep. Lee call for diplomacy to defuse rising risks.Tue, 09 May 2017 14:30:00 -0400Jonathan Mingle | MIT News correspondenthttps://news.mit.edu/2017/moniz-lee-prospects-nuclear-disarmament-0509<p>From rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula to questions about the future of the Iran nuclear agreement, the specter of nuclear conflict has returned as a concern for policymakers and citizens alike.</p>
<p>Two leading voices on nuclear issues, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee and former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, discussed the prospects for disarmament during a day-long conference on “<a href="http://masspeaceaction.org/event/mitconf/">Reducing the Threat of Nuclear War</a>” held on MIT’s campus on May 6.</p>
<p>“Frankly, the possibility of a nuclear bomb going off is higher today than 20 years ago,” said Moniz, “in terms of the various regional conflicts we are facing.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>Lee, a Democrat representing California’s 13th District and a prominent advocate in Congress for nuclear disarmament efforts, recently returned from a trip to South Korea and Japan, where she met with security officials and visited the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.</p>
<p>“I saw how volatile the region is,” she said.</p>
<p>Lee is a co-sponsor of H.R. 669, a bill that would prevent the U.S. president from launching a first-use nuclear strike without authorization under a declaration of war by Congress.</p>
<p>“We must continue to put pressure on this president to give Congress a comprehensive strategy for deterring North Korea, that puts diplomacy and nonmilitary strategies at the forefront,” she said.</p>
<p>“It is incumbent on us to show this administration the value of diplomacy,” Lee said, calling on attendees to pressure their elected representatives to oppose the Trump administration’s proposed sharp increases in defense spending and planned expansion of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. “His budget puts forth a $1.4 billion increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to build more bombs, yet it doesn’t make our planet any safer, nor does it advance NNSA’s goal of nuclear nonproliferation,” she said.</p>
<p>“After nearly a decade of persistence, the Obama administration, together with our allies, were able to negotiate a deal that put a lid on Iran’s nuclear program and created the most extensive and intrusive nuclear verification regime ever negotiated,” she said.</p>
<p>Moniz described the key features of that agreement, reached in 2015 among Iran, the U.S., and five other world powers, and shared his perspective on its prospects for survival under the Trump administration.</p>
<p>“This was an important example of diplomacy reaching critical security goals without a shot being fired,” he said.</p>
<p>He reminded the audience of the long and difficult history of relations between the U.S. and Iran, stretching back to the U.S. role in a coup in 1953 and the hostage crisis of 1979. “The grounds of distrust are very, very deep,” Moniz observed. “This makes it even more remarkable this agreement could be accomplished.”</p>
<p>Moniz outlined how the agreement has successfully halted the Iranian weapons development program, which had been “expanding very dramatically, with 20,000 centrifuges and [was] close to [finishing a reactor that would produce] one or two bombs’ worth of plutonium per year.”</p>
<p>Moniz also pointed to “extraordinary transparency and verification measures,” which give inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to suspicious sites.</p>
<p>“No other country has a fixed time in which to respond to inspector requests,” he said. Iran, however, must respond within weeks to IAEA requests. “This is completely novel.”</p>
<p>Commenting on Republican criticism of the deal, he noted that quarterly reports to Congress have confirmed that Iran is complying with its requirements.</p>
<p>“If the U.S. walks away from the agreement,” he said, “we get the worst of both worlds. Then Iran has no formal constraints. And some may say, ‘We’ll put sanctions back on them.’ It won’t work. It worked before because we had the entire international community on the same page enforcing those sanctions.”</p>
<p>He expressed doubt that other countries would support reimposing and enforcing sanctions on Iran. “There is no reason to think that if we walk away, we don’t walk away alone. And the sanctions will not be effective.”</p>
<p>Moniz said he is “reasonably optimistic” that all parties to the Iran agreement will continue their compliance — including the U.S. He cited the support of Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, who recently called for the agreement’s continued enforcement.</p>
<p>“I can’t say that there’s no doubt that this deal will stick going forward, but I can say the logic is completely clear and compelling,” Moniz concluded. “And most people, including those who didn’t agree with the deal, have come to that [conclusion].”</p>
<p>If there is continued compliance with the agreement, Moniz said, the international community should go even further, to improve transparency in nuclear programs beyond Iran. “We have got to think hard about what do we want to see in Iran and elsewhere in the region and beyond, in terms of nuclear fuel cycles.”</p>
<p>In addition to returning to his role as a physics professor at MIT, Moniz was recently named the CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a nonpartisan organization founded by former Senator Sam Nunn and Ted Turner in 2001, dedicated to reducing the threat of attacks with weapons of mass destruction and disruption.</p>
<p>In that capacity, he said, he hopes to engage with members of both parties to work toward nuclear nonproliferation and increased support for the IAEA’s work.</p>
<p>Lee and Moniz were introduced by John Tierney, former U.S. representative from Massachusetts and executive director of Council for a Livable World, which promotes policies to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>During a question and answer session, Lee and Moniz addressed a range of other issues as well, including the risks of a cyber attack interfering with the U.S. nuclear command and control systems, and Lee’s ongoing efforts to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) resolution passed by Congress.</p>
<p>The conference was jointly sponsored by MIT Radius, American Friends Service Committee, the Future of Life Institute and Massachusetts Peace Action, whose nuclear abolition working group is chaired by MIT professor of biology Jonathan King.</p>
Two leading voices on nuclear issues, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee and former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, discussed the prospects for disarmament during a day-long conference on “Reducing the Threat of Nuclear War” held on MIT’s campus on May 6.
Photo: Jake BelcherSpecial events and guest speakers, Nuclear security and policy, Security studies and military, Policy, Government, Middle East, AsiaKing Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden visits MIThttps://news.mit.edu/2017/king-carl-xvi-gustaf-sweden-visits-mit-0508
Swedish delegation tours Institute, participates in dialogue on innovation.Mon, 08 May 2017 15:00:00 -0400Peter Dizikes | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/king-carl-xvi-gustaf-sweden-visits-mit-0508<p>His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden visited MIT on Friday as part of a “Royal Technology Mission” for his country, attending presentations about research and the Institute’s innovation ecosystem, among other topics.</p>
<p>The king toured the MIT Media Lab and listened to talks from MIT faculty focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence. He was accompanied by a delegation of government officials, scholars, and business leaders making a week-long visit to the U.S. to examine issues in technology and science.</p>
<p>“We’re deeply honored you have chosen to visit our Institute,” said Richard K. Lester, who as associate provost oversees MIT’s international activities, while also serving as the Japan Steel Industry Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering.</p>
<p>“Thank you very much for making it possible to visit with you,” said Leif Johansson, chair of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, who served as the formal chair of the Swedish delegation.</p>
<p>“We certainly have learned a lot more, and you have deepened our insight,” Johnasson added.</p>
<p><strong>Not the first meeting with MIT faculty</strong></p>
<p>It was His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf’s first visit to MIT — although, as Lester pointed out, not the first time any MIT faculty members have met him, since the king annually presents Nobel Prize winners with their medals. There are 10 current MIT faculty who have won a Nobel prize and 87 MIT-linked Nobel winners all told, including Institute alumni.</p>
<p>At the Media Lab, the Swedish delegation received tours of the Changing Places Resarch Group, which focuses on urban planning and mobility, and the Lifelong Kindergarten Research Group, which develops online tools for education and play. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Kent Larson, who directs the Changing Places group, showed the delegation a project called terMITe that uses sensors to study how people use their homes. The project, he noted, can help Media Lab partners such as (Sweden-based) IKEA “help design better places” for people to live.</p>
<p>Eric Rosenbaum of the Lifelong Kindergarten group demonstrated learning tools including Scratch, the popular coding program for children.</p>
<p>“It is about transforming what kids see as possible for them,” Rosenbaum explained.</p>
<p>In a subsequent series of faculty presentations in the Media Lab’s conference space, Vladimir Bulovic, the Fariborz Maseeh (1990) Professor of Emerging Technology and associate dean for innovation, discussed the programs and courses at MIT that help fuel entrepreneurship.</p>
<p>“We should give you experiences while you’re at MIT to help you learn what it is to start a business,” Bulovic said.</p>
<p>As Bulovic noted, the greater Boston area is an ideal place to be creating synergies between academia and entrepreneurs, since roughly 10 percent of all venture capital in the world is invested within the region. And, he added, a “key to all of it is innovation brought about by universities.”</p>
<p>Around 31 percent of MIT alumni are named as an inventor on a patent, Bulovic observed; 40 percent of alumni have founded two or more firms; and 23 percent of alumni have founded firms outside of the U.S., which is one reason links between MIT and many countries prove fruitful.</p>
<p>The Swedish delegation also heard a talk from Andrew McAfee, co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy within the MIT Sloan School of Management, who discussed the new progress artificial intelligence has made within the last half-decade, and outlined some of the possible effects it might have.</p>
<p>“I think we’re going to make a lot of progress on tough, tough challenges in the 21st century,” MacAfee said.</p>
<p>However, he added, the development of artificial intelligence, to the extent that it might replace jobs, could create “tensions” in society that will need to be addressed.</p>
<p>Max Tegmark, a professor of physics at MIT who was born in Stockholm, moderated the discussions, gave an introduction in Swedish to the delegation, and provided a few remarks of his own about artificial intelligence.&nbsp;</p>
<p>“We don’t want to make any mistakes,” Tegmark said. “We want to get it right.” Tegmark’s concerns stem from the idea, he added, that “We want to be proactive, not reactive,” about the impact of technology on society.</p>
<p><strong>MIT’s open-door policy</strong></p>
<p>Tegmark also conducted an exchange of gifts with the Swedish delegation, which included multiple books by MIT faculty and about MIT. With the event occurring on Tegmark’s 50th birthday, the entire group of visitors sang him “Happy Birthday” in Swedish.</p>
<p>Each professor also fielded questions from the Swedish delegation. Bulovic, when asked about the distinctiveness of MIT’s academic culture, noted that the physical connections between buildings on campus both enhance and symbolize the open-ended, interdisciplinary nature of Institute research.</p>
<p>Bulovic noted that his own lab, which focuses on nanoscale materials, funds about 15 students directly but serves as a locus of research for about 55 others whose work relates to his group’s efforts. “I’ll only be useful to them if I give them” opportunities and support, he said, reaffirming his commitment to research and learning from the ground up.</p>
<p>“The doors are always open,” Bulovic said.</p>
His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, left, meets MIT professor of physics Max Tegmark, right, during the king’s visit to MIT on Friday, May 5. The Stockholm-born Tegmark conducted an exchange of gifts with the Swedish delegation, which included multiple books by MIT faculty and about MIT.
Photo: Allegra BovermanSpecial events and guest speakers, Media Lab, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Business and management, Industry, International initiatives, K-12 education, STEM education, International relations, Physics, Europe, Nobel Prizes, School of Architecture and Planning, Sloan School of Management, School of ScienceStatistics and Data Science Center holds inaugural conferencehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/statistics-data-science-center-holds-inaugural-conference-0505
SDSCon 2017 gathers community and showcases research projects that apply data science to major systems and issues.Fri, 05 May 2017 10:00:01 -0400Stefanie Koperniak | Institute for Data, Systems, and Societyhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/statistics-data-science-center-holds-inaugural-conference-0505<p>The first annual&nbsp;Statistics and Data Science Center Day (<a href="https://sdsc2017.mit.edu/">SDSCon</a>) at MIT highlighted a variety of research projects, including efforts to better understand gene editing, climate change, microcredit programs, international trade, and recommendation systems. The common thread of all of these diverse research areas&nbsp;is that researchers can use statistics and data science to learn about and accurately model different systems — leading to insights into how the systems work, as well as the ability to make better-informed decisions and policies.<br />
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SDSCon 2017 was hosted by the <a href="http://sdsc.mit.edu" target="_blank">Statistics and Data Science Center</a> (SDSC), which is part of the <a href="http://idss.mit.edu" target="_blank">MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society</a>. The April 21 conference&nbsp;was the first of what will be an annual celebration of statistics and data science, bringing together a growing community at MIT and beyond.<br />
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The day featured several short talks by SDSC faculty, three longer&nbsp;presentations&nbsp;by experts from outside of MIT, a brief industry session, and a graduate student poster session. Videos of all talks are&nbsp;available <a href="https://sdsc2017.mit.edu/videos">online</a>.<br />
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SDSC&nbsp;brings together Institute-wide efforts and expertise in the areas of statistics and data science, facilitating both academics and research. New academic programs include an undergraduate minor in statistics and data science launched last&nbsp;fall and a PhD program that is still in the planning stages.<br />
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Devavrat Shah, SDSC director and a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, noted the interdependence of the academic and research components of SDSC.&nbsp;“As we know, a good education cannot happen without good research activities,” he said.<br />
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Shah described SDSC as providing “a wide and common umbrella for people across the campus to come together and … make progress and learn from each other.” The major challenges addressed by SDSC researchers often involve both people and data, and their research often looks at questions of how to analyze data and how to use it&nbsp;to inform decisions. Shah also addressed some different perceptions of statistics, as well as how the field is shifting and evolving.</p>
<p>“It’s important to understand and remember and celebrate classical statistics,” he said.&nbsp;“But it’s also important to expand our horizons by bringing things like computation as a foundational topic.”<br />
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Michael Steele, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, discussed&nbsp;the effectiveness of&nbsp;decision-making algorithms in relation to the St. Petersburg paradox, a concept that explores&nbsp;the challenge of determining and making decisions based on&nbsp;expected reward. He highlighted some new theoretical work that is attempting to explain some of the strategies that might allow decision-making algorithms to work well despite this challenge.<br />
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Jennifer Listgarten, a senior researcher at Microsoft Research New England spoke about data science challenges in the area of genetics, which she described as “a truly data-driven science.” Listgarten focused primarily on the gene-editing system CRISPR.<br />
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Harvard Kennedy School Professor James Stock talked about statistical analysis of climate change, especially in the context of clearly communicating&nbsp;climate change research and models to policymakers. He noted that although climate change might seem to be&nbsp;a “data-rich challenge,” the reality is still that the data are from only one “experiment” — the increasing temperatures of the Earth. He also presented some of the different types of climate change data available and some insights&nbsp;they might provide.</p>
SDSC director Devavrat Shah welcomes attendees to SDSCon 2017.Photo: Dawn Colquitt-Anderson/IDSSStatistics, Data, Genetics, Climate change, Climate models, IDSS, Policy, CRISPR, Special events and guest speakers, ResearchEric Schmidt visits MIT to discuss computing, artificial intelligence, and the future of technologyhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/eric-schmidt-visits-mit-to-discuss-computing-ai-future-of-technology-0504
Former Google CEO, now chairman of parent company Alphabet, speaks to students as part of fireside chat with CSAIL Director Daniela Rus.
Thu, 04 May 2017 17:10:01 -0400Adam Conner-Simons | Rachel Gordon | CSAILhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/eric-schmidt-visits-mit-to-discuss-computing-ai-future-of-technology-0504<p>When Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt started programming in 1969 at the age of 14, there was no explicit title for what he was doing. “I was just a nerd,” he says.</p>
<p>But now computer science has fundamentally transformed fields like transportation, health care and education, and also provoked many new questions. What will artificial intelligence (AI) be like in 10 years? How will it impact tomorrow’s jobs? What’s next for autonomous cars?</p>
<p>These topics were all on the table on May 3, when the <a href="http://csail.mit.edu" target="_blank">Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory</a> (CSAIL) hosted Schmidt for a conversation with CSAIL Director Daniela Rus at the Kirsch Auditorium in the Stata Center.</p>
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<p>Schmidt discussed his early days as a computer science PhD at the University of California at Berkeley, where he looked up to MIT researchers like Michael Dertouzos. At Bell Labs he coded UNIX’s lexical-analysis program Lex before moving on to executive roles at Sun Microsystems, Novell, and finally Google, where he served as CEO from 2001 to 2011. In his current role as executive chairman of Google’s parent company, Schmidt focuses on Alphabet’s external matters, advising Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other senior leadership on business and policy.</p>
<p>Speaking with Rus on the topic of health care, Schmidt said that doing a better job of leveraging data will enable doctors to improve how they make decisions.</p>
<p>“Hospitals have enormous amounts of data, which is inaccessible to anyone except for themselves,” he said. “These [machine learning] techniques allow you to take all of that information, sum it all together, and actually produce outcomes.”</p>
<p>Schmidt also cited Google’s ongoing work in self-driving vehicles, including last week’s launch of 500 cars in Arizona, and addressed the issue of how technology will impact jobs in different fields.</p>
<p>“The economic folks would say that you can see the job that’s lost, but you very seldom can see the job that’s created,” said Schmidt. “While there will be a tremendous dislocation of jobs — and I’m not denying that — I think that, in aggregate, there will be more jobs.” &nbsp;</p>
<p>Rus also asked Schmidt about his opposition to the Trump administration’s efforts to limit the number of H1B visas that U.S. tech companies can offer to high-skilled foreign workers.</p>
<p>“At Google we want the best people in the world, regardless of sex, race, country, or what-have-you,” said Schmidt. “Stupid government policies that restrict us from giving us a fair chance of getting those people are antithetical to our mission [and] the things we serve.”</p>
<p>Schmidt ended the conversation by imploring students to take the skills they’ve learned and use them to work on the world’s toughest problems.</p>
<p>“There’s nothing more exciting than that feeling of inventing something new,” he said. “You as scientists should identify those areas and run at them as hard as you can.”</p>
<p>In his introduction of Schmidt, MIT President L. Rafael Reif applauded him for his leadership on issues like innovation and sustainability, including his support of MIT’s <a href="https://www.mitinclusiveinnovation.com/" target="_blank">Inclusive Innovation Competition</a>, which awards prizes to organizations that focus on improving economic opportunity for low-income communities.</p>
<p>“Eric embodies what we at MIT call ‘making a better world,’” said Reif. “As AI and machine learning become more sophisticated and increase the potential for automation, the concept of ‘inclusive innovation’ has never been more critical. I am grateful to Eric for his support of the competition and for his partnership on an issue that matters deeply to us at MIT.”</p>
<p>The talk was co-sponsored by CSAIL and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.</p>
Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and current chair of Google's parent company, Alphabet, touched on many issues during his visit to MIT, including self-driving cars, the state of computer science research, and artificial intelligence in health care.Photo: Jason Dorfman/MIT CSAILSpecial events and guest speakers, Computer science and technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Technology and society, Government, Artificial intelligence, Jobs, Autonomous vehicles, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs), School of Engineering, Industry, Health care, DataFunding solutions for pressing food and agriculture issueshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/food-agribusiness-innovation-prize-competition-0503
Teams tackling crop spoilage, pesticide pollution, and farming efficiency win annual competition.Wed, 03 May 2017 16:30:00 -0400Rob Matheson | MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/food-agribusiness-innovation-prize-competition-0503<p>A coating that increases the shelf life of produce, a spray that reduces pesticide pollution, and software that optimizes farming operations were the big winners at the second annual Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize competition.</p>
<p>At last night’s event, seven finalist startups and teams from MIT and other universities pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges, for a chance to win prizes totaling $25,000. The pitches addressed some of today’s most pressing issues in the food and agriculture industries.</p>
<p>A first-place prize of $12,000 went to Cambridge Crops, which is developing a silk-based coating that extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by up to 50 percent. Winning second place for $8,000 was Ecospray, which is developing a spray that helps farmers drastically cut pesticide usage, lowering costs and reducing pollution. The third-place $5,000 prize was awarded to WISRAN, which improves profits for farmers with software that analyzes, in real-time, the time, cost, and effectiveness of farming activities.</p>
<p>The competition was sponsored by Rabobank — one of the largest banks in the world that caters specifically to food and agribusiness clients — and supported by the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) and the MIT Food and Agriculture Club.</p>
<p>In his welcoming remarks, J-WAFS Director John H. Lienhard V, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water and Food at MIT, said the competition represents a major goal of J-WAFS: nurturing food and agribusiness startups. This is especially important, he said, with the global population projected to reach 10 billion people by 2050, a scenario in which many people will lack regular access to water and food.</p>
<p>“We firmly believe the solution to many of these problems really is to create entities that will go out on their own, as businesses, and propagate new and good ideas,” he told a capacity crowd of attendees in the Samberg Conference Center.</p>
<p><strong>Top prizes</strong></p>
<p>MIT-Tufts University team Cambridge Crops developed a coating that’s 99 percent water and 1 percent silk fibroin — a protein similar to that found in the gland of a caterpillar. Soon after the coating is applied to crops, the water evaporates, leaving a flavorless, edible silk film. That film reduces cell respiration and water evaporation, which can drastically slow ripening and spoiling of produce.</p>
<p>The technology is based on research at Tufts University by Benedetto Marelli, now the Paul M. Cook Career Development Assistant Professor in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Marelli and other Tufts researchers published a <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep25263">paper</a> in <em>Nature</em> last year showing that the coating can extend by 50 percent the shelf-life of strawberries, which generally have a shelf-life of less than 10 days.</p>
<p>“We have technology that can dramatically reduce waste at every step of the value chain, for producers, distributors, and consumers,” said team member Jacques-Henry Grislain MBA ’16, during the team’s winning pitch.</p>
<p>After receiving a big check by competition organizers, Grislain told <em>MIT News</em> that the prize money will help fund the team’s ongoing experiments that aim to ensure the coating is commercially viable. Other commercial technologies, such as controlled atmosphere storage, are now being used to slow food spoilage, he said: “But we want to make sure we have the best and most efficient solution on the market.”</p>
<p>In delivering MIT team Ecospray’s pitch, Maher Damak, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, said only about 2 percent of pesticides sprayed on plants stick, while the rest bounces off and flows into streams and rivers, causing pollution. About 200,000 people worldwide die from pesticide poisoning annually, according to recent reports from the United Nations. Farmers spend roughly $100 billion on pesticides annually.</p>
<p>“Our mission is to eliminate all pesticide waste, while saving growers tens of billions of dollars per year,” Damak said.</p>
<p>Because plants are hydrophobic (water-repelling), liquid pesticide droplets tend to bounce off the surface. For four years, Damak, associate professor of mechanical engineering Kripa Varanasi, and other MIT researchers developed a spray that applies two different additives to a pesticide — one produces a negatively charged droplet; the other, a positively charge droplet. When the two oppositely charged droplets meet on a plant, they form hydrophilic (water-attracting) bumps that catch the droplets. This retains 10 times more liquid, meaning only one-tenth the amount of pesticide needs to be used to have the same effect. The spray’s efficacy was detailed in a 2016 <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2016/reducing-runoff-pollution-making-spray-droplets-less-bouncy-0830">paper</a> co-authored by Damak, Varanasi, and other MIT researchers and published in <em>Nature Communications.</em></p>
<p>Third-place winner WISRAN uses a system of cloud-connected sensors to monitor, in real-time, the efficiency of various types of farming equipment. Data collected from the sensors are uploaded to a cloud platform, where machine-learning algorithms analyze the data to provide<em> </em>financial metrics of labor and equipment. A farmer could, say, tag a tractor to determine the wasted, idle, and productive time of the vehicle, or monitor leakage of watering equipment. The system also analyzes the total costs of managing machinery, paying labor, and loading up on gas. With those insights, according to the team, farmers can boost profits by 10 to 30 percent.</p>
<p>“We are a company that identifies hidden inefficiencies in agriculture, so growers can increase their profits,” said team member Arsalan Lodhi, a graduate of New York University who has worked in the tech industry for more than a decade.</p>
<p>The other finalist teams were: Preserve-air, which designed an inflatable temporary storage room that reduces the effects of the sun on crops at select times; Rooted, which makes snack bars made of algae, a sustainable and nutritious alternative to animal protein; AquaOne Technologies, which develops novel water desalination technology that stops salty water from damaging the nutrient content of crops; and Foodfully, an app that links with grocery store loyalty cards and scans receipts to notify users before food goes bad, and to provide recipes and waste-reduction tips.</p>
<p><strong>Getting ideas off the ground</strong></p>
<p>This year, there were 28 submissions for the competition, which started last November. In January, judges selected the seven finalist teams, which were paired with mentors that helped develop business plans and pitches. Teams are not limited to MIT affiliates.</p>
<p>The competition is unique on campus and at MIT’s peer institutions, as it focuses specifically on supporting food and agribusiness startups, said Samantha Fahrbach, an MIT Sloan School of Management student and president of the Food and Agriculture Club. “It’s about bringing ideas to a place where they can get off the ground, and also solidifying MIT as a place where food and agriculture innovation happens,” she said.</p>
<p>While not every team can take home prize money, Fahrbach added, teams earn an important networking opportunity and “take away experience and insight into what it takes to pitch for funding, and really develop the idea from the initial stage into a fully fledged business plan that you can explain and convince people will be successful.”</p>
<p>Keynote speaker was Sam Schatz, managing director of corporate development at AeroFarms, a startup building vertical farms — stacked shelves of crops that can rise 40 feet — in warehouses in urban areas. Prompted by Fahrbach to offer advice to the competing teams, Schatz told the teams that the hard work has just begun.</p>
<p>“As much work as you’ve put in, the work starts once you get funding,” he said. “All those issues you had in raising the funding are going to be amplified once you have it. You’re always in fundraising mode, so keep that [fundraising] hat on.”</p>
At the second annual Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize competition, seven finalist startups and teams from MIT and other universities pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges, for a chance to win prizes totaling $25,000. The pitches addressed some of today’s most pressing issues in the food and agriculture industries.Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E), Startups, Sustainability, Food, Water, Agriculture, Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS), Special events and guest speakers, Contests and academic competitionsMIT community celebrates its many cultureshttps://news.mit.edu/2017/oneworld-multicultural-festival-dance-parties-0503
Students, faculty, and staff come together at the OneWorld @ MIT Multicultural Festival and Dance Parties.Wed, 03 May 2017 15:30:00 -0400MIT News Officehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/oneworld-multicultural-festival-dance-parties-0503<p>The MIT community came out in full force Saturday for a spirited festival celebrating the Institute’s diverse cultures.</p>
<p>A stage show at the Johnson Athletics Center drew an audience of more than 1,600, including many families, for 17 student performances showcasing dance, music, poetry, and costumes from around the world.</p>
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<p>The program’s hosts, sophomore Bruke Mesfin Kifle, junior Sravya Bhamidipati, and seniors Alberto Hernandez and Pragya Tooteja, kept the packed program running like clockwork, as artists took the stage to perform acrobatic capoeira, a gliding tango, traditional dances of Ethiopia and Eritrea, a tribute to an iconic Scottish poet, and much more.</p>
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<p>Later in the evening, approximately 9,000 people comprising MIT students, faculty, staff, and friends got their groove on in four tent dance parties on campus. The dancing, music, and food centered around four themes:<strong> </strong>A World of Music: Middle East/K-pop/Hip-hop/India; Campus Night Club; Caribbean Rhythms and African Beats; and Country Two-Step to Salsa. Dance teams<strong><strong> </strong></strong>Mocha Moves and MIT Bhangra made special guest appearances.</p>
<p>The OneWorld @ MIT Multicultural Festival and Dance Parties event was presented by members of the MIT student body and the <a href="http://oneworld.mit.edu/oneworld-mit-planning-group" target="_blank">One World@MIT planning group</a>, which is led by Raul Radovitzky, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics.</p>
The MIT Ohms a cappella group utilizes sounds from all kinds of South Asian music, occasionally mixing Western pop with Bollywood pop, grafting the songs to classical roots, and growing their own modern music.Photo: Jake BelcherSpecial events and guest speakers, Community, Arts, Music, Global, Diversity and inclusion, MindHandHeartMIT Federal Credit Union bestows annual scholarships, People Helping People Awardhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-federal-credit-union-bestows-annual-scholarships-people-helping-people-award-0502
MIT grad student John Arroyo honored for his service to the community; six high school and college students awarded $1,000 Memorial Scholarships.Tue, 02 May 2017 16:35:01 -0400Scott Hanna | MIT Federal Credit Unionhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-federal-credit-union-bestows-annual-scholarships-people-helping-people-award-0502<p>Each year, the MIT Federal Credit Union (FCU) presents the People Helping People Award to an FCU member who exemplifies compassion, commitment to helping others, and a sense of social justice within the MIT community. At this year's annual FCU business meeting on April 26, John Arroyo, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, was named as the 2017 winner.</p>
<p>“While in its eleventh year, it continues to amaze me in learning about the contributions and positive impact made by the many members of the MIT Community,” said MIT FCU President and CEO Brian Ducharme. “John’s accomplishments are nothing short of astounding and we are honored to present him with this year’s People Helping People Award.”</p>
<p>During his third year of doctoral studies, Arroyo became a graduate resident tutor (GRT) for undergraduates at MIT’s Simmons Hall. This was his way of improving the well-being of the general student population, and of students with a similar upbringing as his — with particular socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds who may feel alienated, out of place, and misunderstood. Arroyo is strongly committed to teaching, advising, and mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds, as well as first-generation college students.</p>
<p>Given all that he does for the MIT community, it is clear how Arroyo is able to translate his many academic and personal interests into a passion for helping others. Arroyo has pledged to donate his $2,000 award to the Latino Opportunity Program, an initiative within the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.</p>
<p>In addition to the People Helping People Award, MIT FCU awarded six $1,000 Memorial Scholarships to support members investing in their education. Recipients were selected based on essay content, grades, financial need, and extracurricular and community activities. The 2017 Memorial Scholarship winners are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Brian Leonard, of Rockland, Massachusetts, who is a junior at Framingham State University;</li>
<li>Emily Himelrick, of Canton, Massachusetts, who is currently finishing her senior year at Notre Dame Academy and plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh this fall;</li>
<li>Giuliana D’India, of Derry, New Hampshire, who is currently finishing her senior year at Pinkerton Academy and plans to attend Southern New Hampshire University this fall;</li>
<li>Jesse Hinricher, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is currently a sophomore at MIT studying chemical engineering;</li>
<li>Kayla Nett, of Woburn, Massachusetts, who is currently finishing her senior year at Woburn Memorial High School and plans to attend Framingham State University this fall; and</li>
<li>Marina Whitlow, of Salem, Massachusetts, who is currently finishing her senior year at Salem High School and plans to attend Ithaca College this fall.</li>
</ul>
<p>The MIT Federal Credit Union was founded as a nonprofit financial institution in 1940 to provide basic financial services to employees at MIT. Today, with $525 million in assets, the credit union offers traditional savings and checking accounts as well as lending programs for mortgages, autos, personal and student loans. With locations and ATMs in Cambridge and Lexington, along with mobile, online, and telephone banking services, MIT FCU serves the greater MIT-Kendall Square community, which includes employees of Novartis (Cambridge), Lincoln Laboratory, Draper, the Whitehead Institute, and The Broad Institute. MIT FCU also serves MIT students and alumni.&nbsp;</p>
<p>MIT FCU is a member-owned, cooperative financial institution whose primary mission is to provide quality financial services that meet the needs of its members while ensuring the financial well-being of the organization.</p>
Left to right: Scholarship recipients Emily Himelrick, Marina Whitlow, and Kayla Nett; MIT FCU President and CEO Brian Ducharme; scholarship winners Giuliana D’India and Jesse Hinricher; and People Helping People Award Winner John Arroyo.Photo: MIT Federal Credit UnionSpecial events and guest speakers, Awards, honors and fellowships, Credit union, Community, Students, Chemical engineering, Urban studies and planning, School of Architecture and Planning, School of EngineeringA tax plan to stop climate changehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/bob-inglis-tax-plan-stop-climate-change-0428
At MIT, former Congressman Bob Inglis speaks about climate and free enterprise.Fri, 28 Apr 2017 15:50:01 -0400Environmental Solutions Initiativehttps://news.mit.edu/2017/bob-inglis-tax-plan-stop-climate-change-0428<p>Describing himself as an “energy optimist” and a “climate realist,”&nbsp;former U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC) told an MIT audience on Tuesday, April 25,&nbsp;that solutions to address climate change are within reach, but that support from conservatives will be indispensable to moving them forward.</p>
<p>“If there is going to be action, it is essential that conservatives join this,” said Inglis, the founder of <a href="http://www.republicen.org/" target="_blank">RepublicEn</a> and one of the country’s most prominent conservative advocates for climate action. “The way we do that is by talking to them in real free enterprise terms.”</p>
<p>During his lecture, the last of the year in the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative’s People and the Planet<em> </em>lecture series, Inglis made the case for a “tax swap”: implementing a tax on carbon while offsetting its revenues with a reduction in income or payroll taxes. This way, Inglis said, the U.S. can unleash a wave of clean energy innovation, driving down planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions without harming economic growth. And by making the tax border-adjustable —&nbsp;meaning that imports to the U.S. from countries without their own carbon tax would face an import tax —&nbsp;Inglis said his plan would catalyze the rest of the world to tax carbon as well.</p>
<p>Inglis, a commercial real estate lawyer, won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992 in his first run for office. He represented Greenville-Spartanburg from 1993 until 1998, when he unsuccessfully challenged then-U.S. Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, a Democrat, for Hollings’ Senate seat. Inglis returned to the practice of commercial real estate law until 2004, the year he was again elected to the House.</p>
<p>It was during this second period in Congress that Inglis grew concerned about climate change. “I didn’t know anything about it except that Al Gore was for it, and that was the end of the inquiry for me,” said Inglis. But that began to change when the oldest of his five children, his son, told him before his 2004 election, “‘Dad, I’ll vote for you, but you’re going to clean up your act on the environment,’” Inglis recalled.</p>
<p>Inglis’ transformation on the issue continued when, as a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, he traveled to parts of the world where the signature of climate change is imprinted indelibly, including Antarctica, where he learned about the climate record contained in ice cores, and the Great Barrier Reef. Inglis began to advocate for free market solutions to climate change, penning an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/opinion/28inglis.html" target="_blank">op-ed</a> for <em>The New York Times</em> in 2008 in which he proposed a tax swap.</p>
<p>But while Inglis became convinced that climate change was a problem in need of action, constituents in his deeply conservative district saw things differently. It was partly because of climate change, Inglis said, that despite his rating of 93 (out of 100) from the American Conservative Union, he lost his primary campaign in 2010 to a Tea Party challenger swept into office on a national wave of voter unrest amidst the Great Recession.</p>
<p>After his defeat, Inglis became a full-time advocate for harnessing free enterprise to address climate change. In 2012, he launched the Energy and Enterprise Initiative —&nbsp;better known as RepublicEn —&nbsp;a nonprofit based at George Mason University centered on conservative principles. Inglis won the 2015 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his work on climate change.</p>
<p>Among other Republican leaders making the case for a carbon tax is former Secretary of State George Shultz PhD ’49, who chairs the external advisory board of the MIT Energy Initiative. Shultz is part of the <a href="https://www.clcouncil.org/" target="_blank">Climate Leadership Council</a>, which called earlier this year for a carbon tax whose revenues would be returned to U.S. families through dividends.</p>
<p>Pricing carbon is an idea with widespread support throughout the MIT community, noted John E. Fernández,&nbsp;director of the Environmental Solutions Initiative. In 2016, MIT <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2016/mit-joins-carbon-pricing-leadership-coalition-world-bank-imf-0520" target="_blank">joined</a> the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, a group of governments, companies, and nonprofits working to advance carbon pricing globally.</p>
<p>“Bob describes himself as an energy optimist and climate realist,” said Fernández. “That combination is important because there is much to be optimistic about when it comes to our energy present and future, but it’s also clear we need to redouble our efforts in finding realistic pathways toward real solutions for the climate.”</p>
<p>ESI’s People and the Planet Lecture Series aims to present individuals and organizations working to advance understanding and action toward a humane and sustainable future. Inglis’ visit to MIT was co-hosted by the MIT Energy Initiative and the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.</p>
Former Congressman Bob Inglis speaks at MIT on April 25.Photo: Casey AtkinsSpecial events and guest speakers, Climate change, ESI, Emissions, Policy, Energy, Economics, Global Warming, Government, Greenhouse gases, International relations, Environment, Earth and atmospheric sciences, Sustainability, MIT Energy Initiative, Carbon, TaxesExperts gather at MIT to explore new research in education technologyhttps://news.mit.edu/2017/experts-explore-new-education-technology-research-0428
Researchers, policymakers, and education company leaders discuss innovative technologies to improve education for disadvantaged learners. Fri, 28 Apr 2017 14:00:01 -0400J-PAL North Americahttps://news.mit.edu/2017/experts-explore-new-education-technology-research-0428<p>Technology is developing at a breathtaking pace, and it’s fundamentally changing the way teachers, policymakers, and researchers think about education. On March 31,&nbsp;J-PAL North America hosted a conference at MIT to discuss the role of research and evidence in education technology, bringing together a diverse group of leaders across academia, education companies, education practice and administration, and philanthropy to share their experiences implementing and evaluating technology both in and out of the classroom. Throughout the conference, speakers and participants advocated for rigorous evaluation to advance our understanding of how technology can help students, regardless of income level, learn.</p>
<p><strong>Technology: An opportunity, a challenge, and the need for research</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.povertyactionlab.org/palfrey" target="_blank">Quentin Palfrey</a>, executive director of J-PAL North America,&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.povertyactionlab.org/oreopoulos" target="_blank">Phil Oreopoulos</a>, J-PAL Education co-chair and professor of economics and public policy at the University of Toronto,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DzbJYmiZyQ" target="_blank">discussed the transformative promise</a>&nbsp;of education technology and some of its most exciting uses, including approaches to personalize learning and scale instruction to learners across different contexts. However, they warned that rapid advances in education technology create the risk of leaving those without access behind, exacerbating already stark inequalities between affluent and low-income students — a public policy problem known as the “digital divide.”</p>
<p>“Emerging fields like machine learning, big data, and artificial intelligence will likely compound the influence of technology even further, increasing the range of tools that ed-tech can draw on and speeding up cycles of learning and adjustment…[but] these technologies are arising in a context of persistent inequality,”&nbsp;Oreopoulos said.&nbsp;“Despite expanding access, the digital divide remains very real and very big. If ed-tech practitioners and researchers don’t pay close attention to equity of access and tailoring programs to the needs of those at the lower end of the income spectrum, there’s a risk that the growing influence of technology will aggravate the educational inequalities that already exist.”</p>
<p>Oreopoulos <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEpKJkiYAKA&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR&amp;index=3&amp;t=616s" target="_blank">set the stage</a>&nbsp;with a review of the current evidence on what in education technology works, what works best, and why, drawing on over 90 studies across economics, education, and social psychology. Technology-assisted personalized learning programs emerged as an especially effective approach from the review, which stems from an upcoming education technology literature review. However, many open questions remain about how to leverage technology to help disadvantaged learners, which technologies are the most cost-effective, and why successful approaches work.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PLXQX06WMQ&amp;index=2&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR" target="_blank">Kumar Garg</a>, a former White House advisor who spearheaded President Obama’s efforts to improve STEM education, underscored the tremendous need for investment in education research to help us answer these questions. In 2015, only 0.4 percent of the federal education budget was spent on research, compared to 6.3 percent in health and 12.3 percent in defense. By increasing investments in rigorous research, we can better understand how to use technology to truly transform education, Garg stated.</p>
<p><strong>Not a silver bullet for education</strong></p>
<p>Despite the excitement around education technology, a consistent theme throughout the conference was how technology alone will not serve as a panacea. Rather, it’s best used as a complement to good pedagogy.</p>
<p>"Technology is not a silver bullet, but education is," said&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=693YZetmIcc&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR&amp;index=2" target="_blank">Karen Cator</a>, CEO of Digital Promise and former director of the Office of Educational Technology for the U.S. Department of Education. During her keynote address, Cator highlighted the need to produce and use evidence to understand how we can make the most of technology both within and outside of the classroom. She went on to discuss educational equity, technology, and the profound impact of education on social justice and economic development.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPU39-miDw&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR&amp;index=4" target="_blank">Ken Eastwood</a>, superintendent of the Middletown City School District in New York, shared his personal experience with innovative approaches to improving high-poverty schools in his home district. In his experience, “pedagogy and the art of teaching trumps technology every time,” and emphasizing complementary professional development is key to optimizing technology in the classroom.</p>
<p><strong>Working at the intersection of policy, research, and philanthropy</strong></p>
<p>Alongside practitioners and researchers, the conference featured philanthropic leaders like&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfmqhv1x51c&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR&amp;index=8" target="_blank">Emary Aronson</a>, the interim chief program officer of the Robin Hood Foundation. Aronson spoke as part of a panel focused on improving access to education in the 21st&nbsp;century. “Technology enables access to information, and access to information is a poverty issue," Aronson said of the foundation’s role in the education technology space.</p>
<p>Speakers also addressed the challenge of translating research into policy action.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPU39-miDw&amp;index=4&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR" target="_blank">Tom Kane</a>, a leading education scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, discussed how he aims to keep the research process and results localized and timely in order for evidence to be actionable. Former U.S. Chief Technology Office&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnkA0uq3aHI&amp;index=9&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR" target="_blank">Aneesh Chopra</a>&nbsp;and former White House advisor&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwRlACGwSmo&amp;list=PL5Dr5MK6NSspWzLtUn4bL27EE8XiF60OR&amp;index=7" target="_blank">R. David Edelman</a>&nbsp;shared their perspective on how research can impact large-scale federal policies.</p>
<p>Additional speakers from academia and education companies discussed diverse strategies to embed rigorous evaluation in the rollout of new education programs — such as former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative — to better understand how real-world policies affect student outcomes. Building off the lessons from the conference, J-PAL North America plans to catalyze&nbsp;new research and promote&nbsp;evidence-based policymaking in the education technology space.&nbsp;</p>
"Technology is not a silver bullet, but education is," said Karen Cator, CEO of Digital Promise.Photo: Elisabeth O'Toole/J-PAL North AmericaSpecial events and guest speakers, Education, teaching, academics, Economics, Technology and society, SHASS, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)